Fire service: under threat

Revealed: it looks like the government is planning to privatise our fire service. It’s trying to sneak in new laws that “would enable fire and rescue authorities in England to contract out their full range of services to a suitable provider”.

Every day, fire crews put their lives in danger to keep us safe. Within minutes of an emergency, we can expect fire engines to be there to save lives and protect our property. Privatising these vital services might seem crazy. But that’s exactly what the government is trying to slip through a hush-hush parliamentary committee.

Let’s make sure the government knows we’re watching. We’ve seen bad ideas get much too far before. We need to move fast to show the government that we want a fire service whose priority is protecting people’s lives, not making profit. Together we can prove how unpopular privatising the fire service would be with the public. Sign the petition here.

Our fire service is a precious emergency service that we all depend on for our lives and our safety. Between 2011 and 2012, English firefighters attended 606,000 incidents. If the government is allowed to sell the fire service off to private companies, then the essence of our fire service, a service for all of us whenever we need it, might be lost forever.

Private companies have been circling the fire service for years. They recognise that money can be made and they want to piggyback off a service the public holds dear.

The government can’t afford another big battle over privatisation. It’ll know that 38 Degrees members were responsible for stopping the sell-off of our forests and making sure the NHS changes were as controversial as possible. 

So let’s make sure they know they’re up against us again. Sign the petition to stop privatisation of our fire service now.