War of words erupts as strike ends

Both sides have fired off angry exchanges

A war of words has erupted between the government and the firefighters' union boss Andy Gilchrist.

The government has accused Mr Gilchrist of "losing the plot" less than 12 hours after firefighters returned to work following an eight-day strike.

It was responding to Mr Gilchrists' earlier pledge to "work to replace New Labour".

Another eight-day walkout by members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is planned to start on Wednesday.

I'm quite prepared to work to replace New Labour

Andy Gilchrist
FBU

Mr Gilchrist reinforced his scathing attack on the government with a warning that firefighters' resolve will not break.

Mr Gilchrist said it was a disgrace that Chancellor Gordon Brown could find £1bn for a war on Iraq, but could not fund a settlement with the firefighters.

He said the unions should be seriously considering ending their links with a Labour government that "treated workers with contempt".

Playing with lives

Speaking at a political rally in Manchester, he said: "I'm quite prepared to work to replace New Labour with what I'm prepared to call Real Labour.

But the union leader was accused by ministers of playing his own games with the lives of others.

Andy Gilchrist: Determined to fight on

Pensions Minister Ian McCartney, brought in to act as a bridge-builder between the government and the FBU in the long-running pay dispute, accused him of "dragging brave firefighters into his political attacks on the Government", and of "losing the plot".

"How can the government possibly have provoked this strike?" Mr McCartney asked.

"It was not the government who tabled a 40% pay claim, not the government who balloted firefighters on such an impossible claim, not the government who called people out on strike and not the government that tore up a 25-year pay formula which Andy Gilchrist previously threatened to call a national strike about if it was ever touched."

Mr Gilchrist should abandon "megaphone rhetoric" and restart meaningful discussions to resolve the dispute with a pay and modernisation agreement, the minister said.

Government stands firm

Firefighters left their picket lines to return to work at 0900 GMT on Saturday after an eight-day strike, but another eight-day walk-out looks almost certain to begin on Wednesday.

Mr Gilchrist was bullish after the end of the strike.

He dismissed the "hysterical rantings" of the government and said its hard stance would not stop the union's fight.

Talks aimed at resolving the increasingly bitter dispute ended without agreement on Friday as Tony Blair refused to budge on pay and the union made no concession on modernisation.

If there is still no agreement after the next strike, a further eight-day walkout is due to run until Christmas Eve.

Strikers stay determined
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The prime minister reiterated the government's position that any pay rise for firefighters beyond 4% would be totally dependent on modernisation.

On Friday, Mr Blair stressed the "brilliant" work of the armed forces in standing in for firefighters during the dispute - suggesting the working practices used by soldiers could be transferred to the fire service.

Military personnel have been working alongside police and ambulance officers in joint control rooms - one modernising move the union resists.

Separate talks will be held by the union and the firefighters' local authority employers on Monday, with the union's executive having to decide whether it wants to call further industrial action after Christmas.

Meanwhile, a man died in Lincoln earlier on Saturday, in what was the last fatality of the second strike period, bringing the total number of deaths in fires to nine.