Tory fire chief vows to “break” union

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

In a newspaper interview, London Fire Authority Chair Brian Coleman described fire union members as “thugs and bullies”, as well as saying:

“Most of the union officials, if they had half a brain cell, they’d be dangerous. Most of them are thick, can’t string a sentence together and frankly are incoherent. We have to break the FBU frankly…”

Responding to Coleman’s comments, Labour’s Ken Livingstone said that Boris needs to get a grip and sack his fire chief:

“Boris Johnson’s fire chief reveals real objective is ‘break the FBU’, not good employee relations. Boris must get a grip and sack his confrontational fire chief if we’re to have long-term solutions to challenges facing fire brigade.”

Deputy leader of the Labour group at City Hall John Biggs has also called for Coleman to go, saying that he has broken the LFEPA code of conduct:

“Given that, on the face of it, the Chair of LFEPA appears to have breached the code of conduct, I am seeking an assurance from you that you will take urgent action and if necessary remove him from office.”