Since 2010, one in five firefighter jobs has disappeared alongside 30% funding cuts — all while climate breakdown brings record blazes and flooding. It’s time to fund our fire service properly, writes FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT

THE US’s recent action of seizing the cargoes of four oil tankers allegedly carrying Iranian petrol to Venezuela has provided the Trump administration with the perfect opportunity to simultaneously attack two of its enemies in election year.
Iran and Venezuela, both oil-producing countries, are subject to swingeing illegal sanctions through which the US seeks to crush their governments and achieve regime change.
The US claims that the fuel shipment in the four foreign-flagged oil tankers was organised by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it designates as a terrorist organisation, and was bound for Venezuela, in contravention of US sanctions.



