Firefighters up and down England have taken strike action today in a dispute over pensions.
England's Firefighters On 24-Hour Strike
Thousands of firefighters are set to descend on London this morning for a rally in Westminster in a bid to gain support from MPs after major changes to retirement age and pensions.
The strike will last for twenty-four hours and began at 7am this morning as this longstanding dispute with the government continues - their last strike action was back in December.
This new action comes after new pension legislation was voted through by MPs, where fire minster Penny Mordaunt made a guarantee that firefighter aged 55 who failed a fitness test through no fault of their own would receive a full, unreduced pension or a new role.
However, Mordaunt is being accused of misleading parliament over those guarantees by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). The union believes that firefighters will face the sack or a reduced pension should they fail fitness tests.
Matt Wrack, the FBU general secretary, said: "Firefighters are justifiably angry with how this government is treating them. MPs, the public, and firefighters were completely misled and given a false guarantee in order to pass the legislation. This is wrong.
"Firefighters will be protesting in parliament to make their voices heard. They will be asking David Cameron what he is going to do to ensure his government delivers its guarantee. We will not accept these lies. If they can lie to firefighters they can lie to anyone and everyone."
The union says that improvements to the pension arrangements have been made in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland after the two sides came together to discuss the options. The scheme that is being proposed by Westminster is being called 'unworkable.'
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government says that the strike action is 'unnecessary.' The spokesman said: "Strike action is unnecessary and appears to be over a point which is a vast improvement on the 2006 scheme which required firefighters to work to 60 with no protection.
"We have been clear that firefighters get an unreduced pension or a job and have changed the national framework through a statutory instrument to do so. If fire authorities do not produce processes which yield this the Secretary of State has said he will intervene."
The rally will take place in London from noon.