Fireman's Strike 2002
26 November 2002
Dear Editor
I expect everyone has a view on the Fireman’s strike, you would expect me as a Right wing Conservative to be totally against them. Well striking yes but the pay claim, which at 40% may seem ludicrously high until you look at the end result £30,000 per annum and compare this with other jobs. An MP gets I believe £60,000 plus, an MEP can earn in access of a £100,000 with perks, because of the Bloody Sunday Enquire some Lawyers have earned a million pound, Political advisors earn in access of £60,000. None of these groups actually produce a product or give an essential service (with the exception of UK MP’s) yet all of these are paid out of the public purse and nobody has said they are paid too much?
Tony Blair’s speech made some good sense but was it necessary to insult the Fireman by saying the army was more efficient and the statement that if the government paid the 40% the economy could collapse was not only ridiculous but was also meant to frighten the public into hating the Fireman. In the past nothing was said about the effect of major spending would have on house prices etc what about the Dome fiasco which cost the public millions, the bloody Sunday enquire which has cost millions, the recent government trip to the Earth Conference in South Africa, the cost of our involvement in Bosnia and the biggest white Elephant of them all the European Union. Membership of the EU cost us Billions of pounds and for every £4 we put in we only get £1 back in subsidies, membership cost each family an extra £10 week on food, EU Fraud costs billions, just by coming out of the EU we could save Billions this could pay for our Fireman, Hospitals, School, Armed Forces etc.
To finalise I have just read an article about why a British Soldier has left the army there were many things he berated Tony Blair about but he finished his article by saying “Perhaps it is time we looked less at the cost of things and more at what their value is” this would not please those I mentioned in the first paragraph.
Yours Faithfully
Martin Clarke