A strike by Britain's fire-fighters threatens Tony Blair's New Labour project and promises to further erode support from his working class constituency, reports James Corbett from London A slate grey sky hangs over a dull November Sunday in London. The firemen forming a picket line outside Kings Cross Fire Station on the city centre's northern perimeter road look cold and fed up. Along with their colleagues from across the rest of Britain they are into day three of an eight-day strike, which looks set to continue until its conclusion. More strikes are promised in coming weeks, and other unions, most notably that which represents airport workers, have threatened to join them on the picket lines. British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be facing his winter of discontent. At the heart of the firemen's claim is a 40 per cent pay increase, which they say they need to hike their salaries up. The British government has offered them 16 per cent tied to modernisation of their working practices. The firemen say the proposed deal is an affront to the important role they play in keeping society safe and rejected it, going on strike for 48 hours two weeks ago, and when further talks failed, walking out again last Friday. In their absence some 19,000 soldiers have been deployed. Operating "Green Goddess" fire engines, creakingly ancient vehicles that date back to the 1950s, the army have so far averted any major tragedies and kept disruption at a minimum. The real test will come if airport workers join the fire-fighters, which could lead to the shut down of Britain's skies given safety concerns. The grumbles that have accompanied the current partial shut down of the London Underground, so far one of the few victims of the strike, could suddenly become a tirade of anger. A deal with the fire-fighters' leader Andy Gilchrist would also threaten to undermine Blair's carefully engineered image as a friend of business. Blair's New Labour project has seen the party shift from its traditional position as ally to unions and workers, to one in which they are more at home with employers and business interests. Meanwhile Blair's Chancellor Gordon Brown, has worked hard to garner a reputation for fiscal responsibility. Not only would this be called into question if Blair submitted to the fire brigade's demands, so too would Labour's entire realignment as a centre-left corporatist party. In the short term the fire brigades dispute is causing concern on a number of levels. Most obviously, there is an increased risk to public safety given the skeleton service that has been operating in its absence. More ominously is the renewed threat of an Al-Qa'eda attack, a spectre which has been looming increasingly in the public's imagination over the last 10 days. Last week's Sunday Times sensationally reported that three North African men had been arrested under the prevention of terrorism act after a plot to release cyanide gas on the London Underground had been foiled. The report was played down by the British government, who said that the arrests had "excited the press" but declined to comment on any specific plot or weapons. Yet they renewed earlier warnings of an Al-Qa'eda attack after a chilling new message from Osama Bin Laden was found to have been circulated among British Islamic extremists, calling for attacks on civilians and describing the "Islamic nation" as "eager for martyrdom". In its strongest words of caution yet, the British government said that attacks by Bin Laden's Al-Qa'eda on the UK are "inevitable." The Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien warned: "We face an enemy who will attack us in Britain as well as overseas.... British workers in New York or tourists in Bali or residents of London or Birmingham." O'Brien added that there was a threat of "well planned attacks" on "British national institutions, commercial and financial infrastructure and on many aspects of our everyday life". With a crucial arm of the emergency services on the picket lines, previous public indifference to such warnings has shifted to an unparalleled sense of unease, particularly at the readiness of a response to any attack. Britain's ambulance and police services are already over-stretched and confidence in the army to provide suitable cover in the event of a terrorist outrage is not great. Few doubt that if Al-Qa'eda attacked the striking firemen would call off their dispute immediately, but there is an indisputable feeling that at a time when Britain is most vulnerable to an attack it is least ready. On the international front, the continuing strike by fire-fighters could seriously undermine potential military action against Iraq. In a blunt warning, Sir Michael Boyce, the country's most senior military chief, said he was "extremely concerned" by the impact on military effectiveness of having 19,000 troops on stand-by for fire fighting. He also spoke of the "morale and motivation problem" of sending soldiers straight from operations in areas like the Balkans and into fire fighting duties. Christmas leave has already been cancelled for most soldiers and the ongoing dispute has left many unable to engage in other training for future military operations, such as an invasion of Iraq. In the House of Commons, Blair played down the suggestion that troops were over- stretched. He stressed that Sir Michael had also said the armed forces would still be able to respond to any military requirements from the government. The defence chief was merely pointing out troops "perfectly obviously" could not be engaged in other duties if they were fire fighting, said Blair. Yet the prime minister is all too aware that the situation he is facing is becoming a mess. Earlier this year he spoke of trade union "wreckers" standing in the way of his ambitious public service reforms.
