Alistair Carmichael, MP for Orkney and Shetland has secured a debate in Westminster Hall, Wednesday 11th February at 9.30am on the threat to the continued fire and emergency cover provided by retained firefighters if their total working time is limited to 48 hours a week.

Mr Carmichael has previously warned the UK government that retained fire fighters will be threatened if Britain scraps its right to opt out of the European working time directive, he said the move could leave 91 per cent of the country without “valuable emergency fire cover”. And that “Surely it is wrong that the law of unintended consequences should be allowed to leave some communities without effective fire cover in this way.”

He was also the co-sponsor of an early day motion 552 in the Westminster parliament;

“That this House notes with regret the vote by the European Parliament on 17 December 2008 which voted in favour of removing Britain’s working time directive opt out, notes with serious concern the removal this opt out will have on retained Firefighters across Scotland and the consequences the removal of the opt out may have on public health and safety, notes that of 391 fire stations across Scotland 321 are staffed by 3,429 retained Firefighters, notes the valuable service these volunteer Firefighters provide to there communities, notes that the Retained Firefighters Union (RFU) oppose the removal of the opt out and that if the opt out is removed and RDS fire stations are proven unviable under the working time directive 91% of the UK land mass cover will lose valuable emergency fire cover and notes the serious and potentially fatal consequences the removal will have on communities across Scotland.”

The massive high profile cross party support being provided by so many concerned political figures from around the UK MP’s is extremely heartening for those who fear the worst if the Opt-Out is removed. For an issue such as this to be the subject matter of a debate in Westminster is a clear demonstration of the importance of this issue to public safety and of the support for those who provide the service.

RFU National Officials will attend and observe the debate which will be available on parliament TV and via a link to our website.