Coleman added an emergency amendment to Monday's London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority budget committee, saying:
We are really grateful to the FBU for showing us that there are possible efficiencies. The union has banned overtime for two to three months and London doesn't seem to have come to a halt.
Removing 27 appliances from service could lead to the loss of up to 500 jobs. Firefighters have always maintained that changing shift patterns - the core of the argument - could mean reduced staffing on night shifts. Coleman has insisted throughout the dispute that cuts were not on the agenda, but the speed with which this suggestion has been made is a bit suspicious. The LFB have previously said these shift changes are being proposed to make London safer, but when they suggest reducing the number of engines by about 16% it does make us pause. Either way, this move will only inflame relations and could well make a resolution even harder to reach.