“While a real-terms increase in day-to-day spending should ease some pressures, the government must go further and faster in rebuilding our broken public services.”
Matt Wrack, FBU General Secretary
Responding to today’s budget announcement, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, calls on the government to “go further and faster”:
Firefighters and other public sector workers have faced years of real term cuts to pay since 2010, while frontline services have been starved of funding.
The Chancellor’s pledge to protect the rights of working people must be reflected in substantial pay offers to firefighters and other workers in the pay rounds next year.
An increase in the minimum wage and additional funding for the NHS, which is facing its worst crisis in decades as a consequence of Tory cuts, is welcome. So are windfall taxes on oil and gas, and adding VAT to public school fees.
But there are also significant missed opportunities. Having the lowest corporation tax in the G7 is not something to boast about it – it is a symptom of a broken economic model in which profits are prioritised above the needs and safety of the public.
While a real-terms increase in day-to-day spending should ease some pressures, the government must go further and faster in rebuilding our broken public services.
The FBU will fight hard for substantial increases in funding for the fire and rescue service, which has lost 30% of its central government funding since 2010. This must be a feature of the forthcoming spending review.
That’s what the FBU expects from a Labour government.
- Matt Wrack is the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union. You can follow him on Twitter/X, and can follow the FBU on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
- This article was originally published by the FBU on 30 October, 2024.
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