BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has condemned threatened strike action by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) as dangerous and wrong. He has insisted government capitulation to the union's 40 per cent pay demand would create "havoc" in Britain's public sector.
Mr Blair spoke out as the cabinet's Cobra contingency planning committee met at 10 Downing Street amid mounting fears about the threat to safety and the possibility of severe disruption if rail and other vital services are threatened by a lack of adequate fire-fighting cover during strikes planned for up to eight days at a time over 36 days from next Tuesday.
A former adviser to the Callaghan government, Lord McNally, last night invoked memories of the infamous "winter of discontent", which paved the way for Margaret Thatcher's first election victory, as he warned the government and unions they were "wandering onto very thin ice."
The FBU leader, Mr Andy Gilchrist, emerged from talks with the local government minister, Mr Nick Raynsford, describing the government's present contingency plans as "wholly inadequate".
Mr Gilchrist maintained he was willing to meet the minister on a daily basis, and insisted next week's opening two-day strike could still be avoided if government signalled its resolve to settle the pay issue. But the FBU chief attacked the government's determination to proceed by way of the independent review of the fire service already under way, and said his union would continue to boycott that inquiry.
Meanwhile the leaders of the Amicus, Unison and RMT unions confirmed their readiness to encourage other groups of workers to leave work if they believed their safety was compromised during the FBU action.
Mr Derek Simpson of Amicus declared: "This would not be secondary action. It would be an evacuation."
London officials of Unison noted health and safety regulations had changed since the last national strike by firefighters 25 years ago.
As fears grew about the potentially crippling effect on the London Underground and national rail network, the RMT leader, Mr Bob Crowe, quoted legal advice suggesting workers had the right to withdraw their labour without a ballot if they believed their lives were in danger.