Rebuild fire services and fight the climate crisis with socialist change
Adam Harmsworth, Coventry Socialist Party
We have all felt the severe reality of climate change over the past couple of months. Multiple record-breaking heatwaves have hit, causing over 1,000 deaths in England and Wales and putting yet more pressure on an underfunded NHS.
The heatwave has caused the ‘longest dry spell in three decades’, causing or helping to fuel a wave of fires across the country.
The number and size of the fires has put a strain on the fire service, but so has the heat itself. Firefighters have to limit their own time in work during the heat, meaning yet more staff are required to tackle the increase in fires.
This should not be a problem for the world’s fifth largest economy, but throughout 16 years of austerity fire services in Britain have been slashed over and over. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says the number of firefighters across the UK is down from 59,349 in 2010 to 47,443 as of last year – a 20% cut.
Rebuilding a functional fire service is an important part of preparing for the impacts of climate change – known as ‘climate resilience’ – in Britain. New prime minister Andy Burnham, as of yet, has made no pledges to support the fire service, but reversing the cuts is an emergency. This June, five fire stations in Kent were on the chopping block thanks to Keir Starmer and then-chancellor Rachel Reeves keeping up Tory austerity. Protests and the FBU threatening industrial action postponed the cuts for now, but Burnham has pledged to stick to Reeves’s same fiscal policies.
Austerity danger
Cuts to public services that are vital for climate resilience are a growing threat to the safety, livelihoods, and lives of many in Britain. It will be essential for the trade unions and working-class communities to fight any cuts or closures, and to fight for the resources we need to protect against climate change.
For example, to restore at least the 12,000 firefighter jobs lost since 2010, and the millions cut from flood defences when the weather swings the other way. We demand that the new Burnham government reverses the years of austerity that has made us less safe while those at the top have enriched themselves. If councillors of any party want to stand on the side of the people they claim to represent, they should fight the government for the resources they need.
Socialist change
The fight for these defences against the impacts of climate change is as important as dealing with climate change itself. It is still possible to halt climate change and prevent our heatwaves, wildfires, floods and other crises from worsening. But capitalist politicians will not stop climate change while they are wedded to a system based on short-term profits and international competition – the decades of inaction are evidence enough of that.
A socialist system, run in the interests of the vast majority of the world, can prevent further climate change and protect communities from the damage already done. We could democratically plan production, after taking the resources and wealth of society into public ownership, with workers deciding what to produce and how. That way we could transition away from polluting production to protect the environment and improve the lives, safety and health of us all.
