Responding to plans by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude to have the UK fire and rescue service run and delivered by a private company Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “We are wholeheartedly against our service being delivered by a private company whose main motive will be to turn a profit ahead of keeping the public safe.
“It is disgusting that a government is even considering running a lifesaving emergency service for profit in place of a fully accountable and publicly owned world class service.
“Firefighters in Cleveland have overwhelmingly rejected offers of mutualisation. In a YouGov survey 97% of firefighters said they were fully against the proposals.
“Firefighters know what’s best for their profession and services delivered by profit driven companies is not it.
“Frontline fire and rescue services in the UK have already been hit by devastating cuts and the use of private sector companies will only worsen the situation and risk public safety.
“Since 2010, we’ve lost more than 5000 firefighter jobs, 39 stations have closed and 999 emergency response times have increased by more than two minutes.
