On Oct. 13, 2008, the New Statesman reported London Mayor Boris Johnson embarked on a round of budget cuts - including services at the London Fire Brigade.Following is an excerpt from the article about Johnson and his Tory administration:
Johnson's proposed 15 per cent of cuts or 'savings' to Greater London Authority funding will not come into effect until next year but 28 notifications of potential redundancies have already been issued within London Fire Brigade.
Stating her concern, (Labour AM Valerie ) Shawcross said: “London's fire service is going up in flames and Boris Johnson is not interested.”
According to statistics produced by the service's Equalities Department 86 per cent of the service is white and male but it is the Equalities and Diversity Training Team that's in greatest danger.
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) Chairman Brian Coleman said: “We will just cut away the flab that's grown in the the organisation.”
Although many would argue this 'flab' works to prevent discrimination within the service.
The Fire Service's museum and library are also under threat although a passionate campaign against its closure has been launched.
Nothing is yet decided and the official line is that a “range of options are being considered” but when questioned the Boris-appointed chairman said the library would go.
Justifying the threats, Coleman said: “Cuts have to be made. We are in the middle of a recession and people don't have any money. I would have thought that was obvious, even to the New Statesman.”
