Prescott says he will impose settlement on defiant firefighters

John Prescott said yesterday he would press ahead with plans to impose a pay deal on firefighters, who are taking fresh industrial action.

In an interview with The Independent, the Deputy Prime Minister declared that neither he nor the public would tolerate another year of "all sorts of official and unofficial action".

Mr Prescott called on the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to cancel a 24-hour stoppage planned for Thursday and put the latest 16 per cent pay offer over three years to its members in a ballot.

He said the FBU had agreed not to stage any new stoppages until seven days after an emergency national conference in Brighton on Wednesday, and the union had breached that understanding by calling the walkout. Delegates are expected to endorse a long campaign of strikes unless there are signs of a breakthrough.

Mr Prescott, who was working behind the scenes with the Trades Union Congress at the weekend in an attempt to achieve a settlement, called for fresh discussions to allay firefighters' fears over the latest offer. The proposals from employers gave fire authorities and local managers the right to introduce sweeping changes to working practices in consultation with the union, but not necessarily with its agreement.

He accepted that some employees were concerned that under such a regime chief fire officers might behave like "Captain Bligh" and that they would be "kicked from pillar to post", but they were mistaken. Mr Prescott said: "Firemen are people of good sense. They feel strongly about this dispute and about fears about what may happen. That has to be addressed even if they are not fully justified." Further talks could be held between the FBU and the employers, possibly with the help of the conciliation service Acas.

Mr Prescott also warned that he would reactivate the 1947 Fire Services Act giving him legal powers to impose a wage deal. "If the whole thing breaks down, I'm not prepared ­ and I don't think the country is prepared ­ to see another 12 months of one-day strikes and two-hour strikes and all sorts of official and unofficial action." Keeping members of the armed forces on alert for months on end in case there were strikes was "not acceptable". It is thought that the new provisions could be rushed through Parliament by Easter.

Whitehall sources indicated that the Government was unlikely to seek an injunction to ban Thursday's strike, after receiving assurances from the Ministry of Defence that soldiers crewing Green Goddess fire engines could provide adequate cover despite any conflict in Iraq.

A spokesman for the union said that it would respond to any invitation to fresh talks, but suggestions that a deal might be imposed amounted to "the last refuge of people who won't negotiate".

He added: "We are not just taking about a pay deal here, we are talking about a plan to impose major cuts on the fire service. As to his reference to Captain Bligh, he has hit the nail on the head. There are fire officers all over the country who are already behaving as if they are in charge of HMS Bounty. That is precisely why if we held another ballot now, I very much doubt if anyone would vote for it."