“Successive governments have treated the Fire Service with benign neglect for decades," former Fire Minister Mike O'Brien told me on the terrace of the House of Commons the day after he had lost his job. It was a great quote from a smart Fire Minister and one that is repeated reflexively by all and sundry when we lapse into maudlin self-interest. Our current Fire Minister, Bob Neill, has a saying of his own - "enlightened self-interest" - and he finds a way to drop that into most addresses.
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