A NEW drive to tackle discrimination across fire services was announced by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) today, as it warned that the sector’s key workers are being “repeatedly failed — with some scared to speak out.”

General secretary Matt Wrack said firefighters have lost faith in chief fire officers and Tory ministers to end the abuse “after decades of failures on the issue.”

The dramatic intervention, which coincided with the opening day of the union’s 2023 conference, came after the fire inspectorate warned earlier this year that examples of racist, homophobic and misogynistic behaviour had been found in a quarter of services in England.