The overwhelming majority of Londoners are against Boris Johnson’s plan to axe 13 fire engines from the capital, according to the results of a London Fire Brigade (LFB) public consultation on proposals to make cuts of £13.2m to the capital’s fire and rescue service, published 9 February 2016.
The consultation, which ran from 7th December to 1st February, found that just 18% of the London public support axing the 13 fire engines. Some 70% of respondents supported Labour’s plan to achieve the savings by reducing back office spending and introducing alternate crewing on some specialist fire engines. A further 11% opposed both cuts proposals.
Paul Embery, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) regional secretary for London, said: “This consultation shows that the public acknowledge the dangers to life that will be posed by cutting appliances in our capital so severely. No-one wants this, and the LFB Commissioner has to now accept that public opinion does matter. Boris Johnson’s awful, unpopular idea to save money isn’t a good one. Lives and safety have to come first.”
