'More firefighters needed to meet terror threat': Union
The UK needs at least 1,000 extra firefighters to deal with the threat of terrorist attacks, union leaders there said today.
The Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU) urged authorities across Britain to follow the example of London, where the number of firefighters is being increased by 250.
The union accused councils in major cities such as Liverpool and Manchester of cutting staff and “hoping that nothing will happen”.
Most authorities were being given extra money to buy equipment to deal with chemical attacks but they were not taking on extra staff to use it, said the FBU.
“Councils have their head in the sand on this issue,” General Secretary Andy Gilchrist said. “There are many strategic targets outside London and the South East.
“London does not have any nuclear power stations that terrorists could attack and there are other strategic transport, industrial and commercial targets around the UK.”
The union has claimed that fire authorities in England and Wales outside London were planning to cut hundreds of jobs and reduce the number of fire engines and special appliances to cut costs.
Research for the union showed that authorities outside London were planning to cut 378 jobs, while a further 196 were under threat.
The biggest cuts were planned in the West Midlands, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, the union claimed.
