PM urged to cancel Trump visit to the UK

The firefighters’ union is calling on the Prime Minister to cancel next month’s visit to the UK by US president Donald Trump.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it has emerged that firefighters will be deployed to Chequers during the visit at a time when the service has been “stretched to breaking point” by cuts and wildfires.

The FBU said Buckinghamshire fire and rescue service has emailed staff offering overtime for the visit.

The move comes at a time when the fire and rescue service is facing substantial cuts, across the country and in the local area, said the FBU.

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'Brutal'

General secretary Steve Wright said: “Donald Trump is a toxic, authoritarian billionaire who has waged a war on workers and the living standards of ordinary Americans, and enacted a brutal, racist anti-migrant policy at odds with basic humanitarian values.

“Rolling out the red carpet for him with an unprecedented second state visit was always a shocking move for a Labour Government. Now we learn that fire cover may be compromised to accommodate it. This could hamper response times and public safety.

“Keir Starmer must cancel this state visit.”

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'Cruel joke'

Chris Wycherley, FBU executive council member for the Southern region, said: “Fifteen years of cuts mean the fire service is on its knees, and Buckinghamshire has spent all summer suffering a lack of resources.

“We have had wildfires, hot temperatures and low rainfall. Those conditions could well still be in place throughout September.

“We have now found that the service has been asked to deploy fire engines and a water tanker to sit outside Chequers for President Trump’s visit.

“Firefighters and members of the public will rightly regard that as a cruel joke. The fire service exists to save lives, not to put on a show for far-right foreign leaders.”