Government

As another 30C heatwave hits parts of the UK, the country’s leading firefighter union has urged the government to tax fossil fuel polluters to help support underfunded emergency response services. The Fire Brigades Union, which represents over 30,000 fire responders in the UK, has joined a fast...

As more than 100 Labour MPs announce that they will oppose the welfare cuts, Fire Brigades Union leader Steve Wright has told Keir Starmer that he must reverse course. He said that the party leadership would "never be forgiven" if it went ahead, and warned that the measures could rely on Tory votes...

Campaigners calling for ‘Zane’s Law’, to protect communities from contaminated land, held a summit at the Houses of Parliament on the 11 June. The proposed law would improve transparency around historic landfill sites and clarify who is responsible for making these safe. It is named after seven-year...

Today, Rachel Reeves has set out budgets for government departments in the Spending Review 2025. Commenting on the Spending Review, Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright said: The Spending Review must represent the end of the austerity era. The fire service has been battered by nearly...

The Fire Brigades Union has today called for the Labour government to provide urgent funding for the fire and rescue service, saying austerity has left UK “vulnerable to disasters”. Fire and rescue services have been decimated by cuts in the past fourteen years, with 1 in 5 firefighter posts axed –...

FBU general secretary Steve Wright has commented on a report that a memo from Angela Rayner to the Chancellor called for a series of alternatives to welfare cuts, such as increasing the rate of corporation tax on banks. It suggested extending the freeze on the threshold at which the 45% tax rate is...