Alan Miles: Tony Blair has inflamed our dispute

He wants to make health service cuts and relishes the idea of sending fire engines instead of ambulances

I stood on the picket line on Monday with my colleagues from the Red Watch at West Hampstead Fire Station, and waited eagerly for Tony Blair to address the nation.

We watched a man with an odd look in his eyes, a look of a man who perhaps knew he would be losing the vote of 50,000 firefighters and their families. Tony Blair was pouring fuel on our dispute and reigniting the resolve and determination of firefighters all over the country with his words.

As a firefighter, I travelled the country with Andy Gilchrist for the duration of the first 48-hour strike as cameraman for the FBU. Not only did I witness first hand the strength of feeling among firefighters all over the country, but also felt the warmth of public support.

After watching Tony Blair's speech, I drove down to Soho Fire Station to hear Andy Gilchrist's reaction. On the way – FBU flag flying from the rooftop of my B-reg Vauxhall Nova and wearing my picket-line armband – I was hooted by many supportive members of the public. One taxi driver pulled up alongside me and threw a £10 note into my window. "I hope you lot get what you deserve – this is for your family," he shouted as he was driving off.

I also visited the picket lines of Chelsea, Paddington, Euston (where I met Tony Benn, who has been spending every day of the strike visiting picket lines, sharing a cup of tea and offering support) and Kentish Town, and the hooters of London were ringing out even stronger yesterday afternoon.

I want to answer a few of Tony Blair's points. Tony Blair yesterday accused firefighters of rejecting modernisation. We have modernised, we are modernising and we will continue to modernise. Tony Blair and the rest of the Government are spreading lies about modernisation. In their eyes modernisation means fewer jobs, longer hours, and fewer fire engines. They want fewer people on duty at night, when casualties are greater. They say we must train to be paramedics, but we already have excellent first-aid training. Many fire engines across the country already carry defibrilators.

The Government, in my eyes, wants to make further cuts in the health service, and relishes the idea of sending fire engines instead of ambulances. Would the public prefer a trained paramedic or five firefighters with cutting equipment to turn up if their loved one was clutching their chest? Besides, it would take four to five years to train as a qualified paramedic.

The Government says it wants full-time and part-time firefighters to work together, and says we oppose this. But we already have mixed crewing. It wants to boost overtime. But this will cost around £18m, and will mean fewer firefighters on duty. This not only threatens safety, it also undermines equality, which is one of the Government's declared objectives for the fire service.

Our productivity has been rising faster than the rest of the economy for two decades, according to employers' evidence to the Bain report. Tony Blair said today that we were asking for a blank cheque with no costing and a rise that will bring direct economic consequences. But the FBU has provided the costing, and it shows how our wage demand would be self-financing and highly beneficial to the economy in the long-term.

Again, Blair talks about modernisation, again he means cuts, and cuts are exactly what the overstretched service doesn't need. The Government must make a decision – do we or do we not want to live in a society that values public service?

Tony Blair says that if we ask for a pay rise the nurses, the teachers and other public-sector workers will come knocking at No 11 for more money. Well, so they should! That's why we voted Tony Blair in in the first place.

The Government does not seem to have realised that it is firefighters and emergency fire control operators who started this campaign with an 87 per cent yes vote for strike action. It is insulting to suggest that the FBU is manipulating them and orchestrating this dispute for some sinister political motive.

Nobody likes to go on strike. The decision last week by the FBU's executive committee to suspend action in order to talk further with employers is just the latest proof how difficult a decision it was for firefighters. On Monday, Tony Blair repeated his determination to see job cuts, a downsized night shift and more overtime to fill in for lost jobs. When there is a serious and significant offer, we are, as always ready to talk and negotiate.

Lastly, I have a question for readers of this newspaper. Would the public rather pay the firefighters and other public service workers a decent wage or would they rather spend their hard-earned cash on funding a war in Iraq to keep the Blair and Bush administration happy?

So long, Tony, it was nice voting for you.