Stoking up the spin

Report will highlight army success in fighting fires

By Mark Davies BBC News Online political reporter

You can almost hear the cogs of the Great Downing Street Spin Machine whirring.

Tony Blair must not, cannot, will not lose his battle of wills with the firefighters.

Fire service employers have been sidelined after the farcical collapse of talks last week, with the prime minister taking centre stage

So if the spin machine is already rattling away like crazy in the No. 10 basement, it's ready to really go into overdrive next week.

This week has seen the prime minister leading the way as he and his team seek to win the battle for the hearts and minds of the public.

Fire service employers have been sidelined after the farcical collapse of talks last week, with the prime minister taking centre stage.

So there he was on Monday bringing forward a press briefing to tell the FBU there was no more money on the table without changes in working practices.

There he was bringing in pensions minister and trade union veteran Ian McCartney to play a backstage role in efforts to resolve the dispute.

Refusing

On Tuesday, he walked from Labour's NEC meeting accompanied by jeers from firefighters. He won't have minded a bit - the television pictures did him no harm.

Gordon Brown got in on the act on Monday. And on Wednesday. John Reid, Labour chairman, took over on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, a story in the Sun suggested that firefighters were refusing to use a control complex built in Wiltshire for the police, ambulance and fire services.

The paper claimed that the FBU had vetoed use of the centre because if a glass door inside was opened to the fire service's room it would then become a joint control room. The union is opposed to such developments.

Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth rushed off to the Wiltshire centre with a TV crew. Andy Gilchrist, leader of the FBU, was simply astonished by the whole affair. "What are you going on about?", he said when asked about the situation.

Appeal

And on Friday? Back to Mr Blair with smiles and handshakes for armed forces personnel as they demonstrated their firefighting abilities.

Behind metal gates in a used car lot, striking firefighters appealed in vain for a word or two with the prime minister.

Next week, expect phase 2. A report on the way the army handled the eight-day stoppage by firefighters will be published via the government's committee for national emergencies.

It won't contain any comment. Just some "dry, statistical analysis," says Downing Street.

That may be so, but the accompanying comments - and, no doubt, the newspaper stories - will highlight how well the army, RAF and Navy did without the same staffing levels of the fire service.

Coax

So if they can do it in a flexible, modern way, why can't the firefighters?, ministers will ask.

Mr Blair got the ball rolling on Friday during his visit to a Territorial Army centre in Darlington as he praised the "brilliant" job being done by the army.

Fire Minister Nick Raynsford had made similar points on the radio earlier.

Raynsford effectively plays the role of good cop, attempting to gently coax the public mood away from any suggestion of sympathy with the firefighters.

Blair meanwhile is happy to be seen as the vaguely bad cop, earnestly meeting army firefighters while sending increasingly blunt messages to the FBU.

If it is an effective drip, drip, drip approach, expect it to become a torrent as another strike planned for next week approaches.