Farage has made it plain just how unfit his party is for power with his mass deportation policy announcement, the Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright writes
Firefighters are on the frontline, protecting families caught up in life threatening emergencies.
Now, it’s critical that Keir Starmer launches his own ‘999 ‘ response to prevent the nightmare of Prime Minister Nigel Farage becoming a reality. That has to mean a ‘Wealth Tax’ to make millionaires like Farage pay for the public services that we all need. A Farage led government would attack unions and vindictively persecute ethnic minorities. The horrific scenes so chillingly playing out in Trump’s America could yet unfold on our streets.
Farage has made it plain just how woefully unfit his party is for power with his latest shambolic and inhumane mass deportation policy announcement. The unworkable and uncosted plan is already unravelling, with Farage shelving his cruel and nasty scheme to imprison refugee children and their mothers, following public outrage.
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But persistently lousy opinion poll ratings for Labour mean, Starmer is running out of time to stop Farage picking up the keys to 10 Downing Street. The PM needs to face down Farage, in stark contrast to the way that Joe Biden and the US Democrats so meekly paved the way for Trump’s return to the White House. Starmer has to take the gloves off and punch back hard at the playground bully that is Farage. Farage, who has never had a real job and pockets vast amounts of cash from outside work, on top of his MPs’ salary, is there for the taking by Labour. The new dividing line in British politics is a ‘Wealth Tax’. A tax on the wealth and assets of the super-rich would go down a storm in working class Labour heartlands that Farage is targeting. Farage is hellbent on replicating a Trumpian style mass deportation plan in the UK. Masked and armed snatch squads that are routinely deployed in multicultural neighbourhoods to seize unsuspecting residents – have left communities in the US terrified. It’s time for Starmer to stop dancing to Farage’s tune on the demonisation of refugees. The PM has to say loudly that it’s Tory austerity that’s solely to blame for housing shortages, foodbanks and NHS waiting lists. Labour’s employment rights bill represents the biggest extension in workers’ rights in 50 years, with a ban on zero hours contracts and the extension of protection against unfair dismissal. But Labour needs to go so much further by delivering much more generous funding for public services, as well as substantially increasing pay for firefighters, NHS staff, teachers, rail workers, and other public sector workers. Starmer has to answer this emergency ‘999 call’ by showing the political courage to adopt a wealth tax. There’s no other way to defeat Farage.
‘Fire service needs huge funding boost’
IT’S been a perilous summer for communities facing wildfires as sweltering temperatures soared to record levels. Firefighters were at the sharp end of outbreaks in Edinburgh, North Yorkshire and Dorset. To make matters worse a large number of the firefighters on the scene at Holt Heath were left without specialist wildfire personal protective equipment. All of which makes it such a grievous error to press ahead with a £102 million cut to fire and rescue services caused by government grant reductions. With wildfires on the rise against the backdrop of the climate change crisis, the fire service desperately needs a huge funding boost, not more cuts. With TUC congress a week away in Brighton, followed by Labour conference in Liverpool, firefighters will be turning up the heat on Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to shelve the cuts.
‘Definitely maybe’
Iconic Britpop supergroup Oasis play the final UK dates of their comeback tour in September. Noel was a neighbour when I started as a firefighter at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The older Gallagher brother lived close by in leafy Chalfont St Giles. It’s sad that tickets were hard to come by, with marathon online queues and eye wateringly high prices reportedly of up to £355. ‘Some Might’ say the government should step in to protect fans. ‘Definitely Maybe’.
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‘Time Bond was played by a woman’
I’m more qualified than most to say who should be the next 007. As a firefighter, I’ve attended operational incidents at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, the location used to shoot Bond movies.
A few of my former firefighter comrades fancied themselves as 007. But it’s time that Bond was played by a woman.
Step forward any of the Lionesses Euro championship winning team?