Firefighters to stage fresh strike

The union said the strike, which is part of a long-running dispute over pensions, would take place “in the coming weeks”.

It accused ministers of “misleading” parliament over what will happen to its members who fail fitness tests.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “Firefighters are outraged at the behaviour of the Westminster fire minister Penny Mordaunt and her boss Eric Pickles, who misled Parliament by falsely claiming that they had introduced a statutory guarantee that a firefighter failing a fitness test through no fault of their own would receive a full and unreduced pension.

“After investigation, it is now clear beyond doubt that no fire service employer agrees that any such guarantee exists. The response from the fire service employers have shown very clearly that Parliament has been misled to allow the government to force through attacks on firefighter pensions.

“Firefighters cannot accept these pension changes as they take no proper account of the real work firefighters do. It is outrageous that the only way the government could win a vote on this is by blatantly misleading MPs.”