As a firefighter, I feel betrayed by the Tories' hypocrisy in capping public sector pay

Theresa May went out of her way to praise the fire service when it made for good optics, but now the Conservatives are cheering about capping our salary

Emergency services risk their lives every day, yet their needs are being ignored (PA)

It is one thing to defeat a Labour Party amendment to the Queen’s Speech which calls for the Government to recognise that cuts to the fire service need to cease and that thousands of firefighters deserve a fair pay rise. It is another thing entirely to greet that defeat with shouts of joy and celebration. Yet that is exactly what the Tories and the Democratic Unionists did last night.

Firefighters will be feeling utterly betrayed and furious after yesterday’s developments. There was hope at one stage that the Government would consider lifting the public sector pay cap and reconsider its devastating austerity agenda on the emergency services, only to U-turn on the U-turn that they seemed to be making, summing up the permanent chaos of this Government. Angry and confused? You’re not the only one.

I am sick and tired of politicians who praise and commend the fire service and firefighters who put their lives on the line every day, only to then ignore their concerns and avoid confronting the consequences that the cuts are having on the service. We’ve seen it time and time again. Politicians in their wellies posing with firefighters during the misery of floods, taking every opportunity to publicly praise firefighters’ bravery responding to disasters like Grenfell Tower. This repeated, spurious and self-serving praise has long lost any meaning to the firefighters they claim to be directing it at.

Since 2010, firefighters have seen two years of a 0 per cent pay rise, then five subsequent years of a 1 per cent cap. By 2020, firefighters will have seen their pay in real-terms cut by more than £2,500 since 2016. They have had their pensions ripped up meaning they now have to work longer, pay more and receive less as a result. Their conditions of employment have been attacked at any and every opportunity. They have constantly been told by fire ministers that they must modernise, suggesting that firefighters are the ones who are stuck in the past by hypocritical ministers who grace the halls of one of the most archaic institutions in the country.

So what has the effect on firefighters been? Well morale is at an all-time low. Firefighters who never dreamed of doing anything other than dedicating their lives to the profession of firefighting are considering leaving the service. We have already lost too many excellent firefighters who just couldn’t take it any more. An increasing number of firefighters are buckling under financial pressure. They aren’t just about managing – they simply are not managing.

Yet firefighters aren’t alone. Police officers are similarly being attacked and nurses are having to resort to food banks. Teachers, paramedics, local government workers and more all have a similar story to tell. These people are the backbone of our country, making sure that vital public services are running and if you need help in an emergency, you get the help you need. They aren’t asking for anything unreasonable or preposterous, only a fair and proper pay rise after years of stagnant pay packets.

The time has come for the Tories to actually put the money where their mouth is. The cuts to the fire service and the real-terms pay cut firefighters have received must come to an end. Theresa May managed to find the mystical garden where the magic money tree grows when she needed to offer a bung to the DUP to cling on to what little power she has left. It’s a testament to the type of person she is that millions of hard working and dedicated public sector workers face many more years of being undervalued, having their profession attacked and seeing their pay cut, whilst she and many other politicians throw praise around like confetti when the political optics require it.

The Government had an opportunity to prove that their praise is not hollow, that they actually recognise the work firefighters do and that they were actually listening to voters – as they claim to be – who are fed up with their fire service being cut. They didn’t. Firefighters will be left with no doubt about the low esteem in which this Government holds them in.

Andrew Scattergood is the brigade chair for the Fire Brigades Union in the West Midlands