17.04.1997

Cameron embarrassed by Essex fightback

For all those who still think New Labour will be a ‘lesser evil’, look no further than Essex. The Labour council there has decided to cut £1.5 million from its fire service budget. In retaliation, the Fire Brigades Union at the weekend voted 58% in favour of a 24-hour strike on Saturday, April 19 and a four-hour stoppage on Monday April 21. There was an 80% turnout of the 1,100 FBU members in Essex for the ballot.

Ken Cameron, general secretary of the FBU, spent five hours on Monday with leaders of Essex County Council, in an attempt to stop any industrial action. So far, the council have failed to come up with any “meaningful proposals”, to use Cameron’s words. This is hardly surprising, given the council’s very aggressive behaviour towards the firefighters. It has already drafted in 25 army Green Goddesses and eight RAF fire engines to provide cover, along with 500 soldiers and airmen. What is more, Essex council has warned that the extra cost of providing military cover could lead to the firefighters facing suspension and loss of pay.

Ken Cameron has been extremely apologetic, if not embarrassed by the decision of the Essex FBU, stating: “This regrettable situation is a direct consequence of the serious underfunding of the fire service over the last 18 years”, attempting to whitewash the behaviour of Essex council and blame the Tories for the entire episode.

His predicament is quite understandable. The FBU is affiliated to the Labour Party and is committed to a New Labour government - ie, Essex on a national scale. Cameron is conscious of the propaganda value to be extracted from such a strike by the Tories, and is terrified of upsetting the Tony Blair applecart. When challenged on Radio Four last week, Cameron reiterated the FBU’s loyalty to New Labour and insisted that the FBU will “always” be affiliated to the Labour Party. Worse luck for FBU members, who find themselves affiliated to a party that will attack their working conditions and put their very lives at risk, in order for Gordon Brown to maintain “Tory public spending levels”.

FBU militants must fight the backsliding and slippery Cameron, who will put his loyalty to Blair before his loyalty to the FBU membership. They must also seriously question the wisdom, to put it mildly, of affiliating to the anti-working class party of Tony Blair - it is definitely rime for a change.

Paul Greenaway