Fire strike may be banned by emergency law if war begins

Firefighters would be banned from striking as soon as any military action began against Iraq under draconian new plans being considered by the Government.

Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, is expected to conclude a war constitutes a "material change in circumstances", allowing him to seek an injunction halting action. An outright ban on industrial action is one of the "nuclear" options open to ministers if the dispute drags on, according to senior Whitehall sources.

Any such plan would be guaranteed to infuriate further the trade union movement, which is already angry at the announcement by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, of emergency legislation to impose a pay and modernisation deal.

As the Fire Brigades Union staged the second day of its latest 48-hour strike, leaders of Britain's biggest unions met yesterday to condemn Mr Prescott's proposal. Mick Rix, the general secretary of the train drivers' union Aslef, called on Tony Blair and Mr Prescott to resign because their anti-union stance was "destroying" the Labour Party.

Brendan Barber, the general secretary elect of the TUC, will meet Mr Prescott today to discuss the concerns of the union movement over his plans. But government sources stepped up the pressure and made clear yesterday that any further strikes would be "unacceptable" once the armed forces were fighting in Iraq. "When we say all options are open, we mean all options," one official said.

With a possible US-led invasion set for March and 30,000 troops committed to the action, the military would be stretched to breaking point if thousands of personnel were diverted to provide fire cover.

By invoking the need for patriotism at a time of international crisis, ministers calculate they can win overwhelming public support for a tougher stance on the strikes.

The Attorney General has both the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act and Emergency Powers Acts if he decides to go to court to outlaw stoppages.

Ministers are keen any move to take legal action must be seen as a quasi-judicial rather than a political decision.

Lord Bassam, the fire minister in the Lords, said yesterday the issue of an injunction was for the Attorney General to decide "and it must be right that he gives these matters independent consideration".

Mr Rix said the Prime Minister and his deputy were responsible for a potentially disastrous disaffection among party members and grassroots trade unionists over the fire dispute and other issues.

As firefighters' picket lines swelled yesterday, Mr Rix said: "We have to clearly start to say that Tony's leadership is becoming a failure. He is creating divisions among the Labour movement and it is probably time for Tony to go."

Referring to Mr Prescott's threat to impose government control over fire service pay, Mr Rix said: "I would never have thought a Labour Deputy Prime Minister, especially with the background he's come from, would utter the words he did. John Prescott has just about severed all his friendships he had left with people in the trade union movement. I don't see anybody giving him one ounce of credibility.

"If John had anything about him he should have resigned rather than make the statement he did. But I don't think he has the guts to do that. It is outrageous to talk of intervening to impose a settlement when all he has done is intervene to block one."

Mr Rix thought there was no chance of unions signing up to a planned £40m donation to the party under present circumstances. There was little chance of the deal being completed in time for the spring conference on 14 February.