On a campaign visit to Wetherby, North Yorkshire prime minister David Cameron boasted that he felt like a firefighter – putting out fires in government started by the previous Labour administration.
Responding Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: “Firefighters will be appalled that David Cameron has the gall to draw comparisons between himself and the lifesaving service firefighters provide.
“Under Cameron’s leadership the fire and rescue service has been decimated by funding cuts and the pensions of thousands of firefighters stolen.
“Cameron has put the public at risk as emergency 999 response times continue to rise and fire engines are now frequently understaffed.
“If Cameron really thought like a firefighter then he would recognise the funding crisis hitting the fire and rescue service and work to resolve it.”
The unions sounding the alarm report found that since 2010 budgets in the fire and rescue service have been cut by 20%, over 5,000 frontline firefighter jobs have been lost and over 40 fire stations have closed.
