It is impossible to gauge what the new Fire Minister will make of the Fire and Rescue Service and indeed, the wider fire sector. It is hard enough to know what to make of it as a supposedly experienced fire reporter used to the cycle of political overhaul. The Fire Brigades Union know what to expect as the Conservative government's approach to trade union industrial action has already been amplified. Reporting from the FBU conference in Blackpool the week after the election verdict (see pg 8), the mood of antipathy and deflation soon gave way to good old fashioned defiance and expressions of unity. Welcome to fire.
展开▼
