"It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone, and I am so pleased to have secured this debate this afternoon on the future of Merseyside fire and rescue service.
I begin by congratulating Merseyside fire and rescue service on its response to the floods right across the …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
"I thank my hon. Friend for making that really important point, which I will return to. She is absolutely right. A cut of 41% in any workforce would add stress, but in an environment such as firefighting the resulting stress would be an unacceptable one to place upon firefighters.
"I thank my hon. Friend for that really important point, because of course someone might say that five is a small number—of course, every life matters—but when we see a trend such as that one it is significant. We also have to consider the wider trauma that is suffered, because …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
"I thank my right hon. Friend for that excellent point, and I absolutely agree with it.
As though all that has happened from 2011-12 to 2015-16 was not enough, there are more cuts to come. The future funding settlement announced as part of the local government funding settlement at the …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
"My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. She is absolutely right that it behoves the Government to take the situation extremely seriously.
The combined numbers for the loss of fire stations mean that we would be down from 26 to 18—a 31% cut. The numbers are shocking, and the scale …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
We have already mentioned the increased response times that are so critical when it comes to saving life. Independent consultants Greenstreet Berman suggest that by 2020, should the cuts go ahead, slower response times nationally will mean up to 41 additional deaths …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
"My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Increasing response times is not an option if we take risk management seriously.
In the spending review, on 25 November, the Chancellor made great play of the fact that there would be no cuts in the police budget and that there would …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
"I thank the Minister for his response and his proposition to look carefully into the increase in deaths; that is welcome. However, I have to say that I find his response on the business of figures somewhat baffling, because all the figures I have presented to him have come from …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
"My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Of course, not all areas of the country receive that level of grant, but to us it is massively important. These cuts are real, and they are being felt already. We have already lost 300 firefighters. I am losing all the fire stations …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech
"I therefore urge the Minister to consider the possibility of dropping the cuts. If the cuts are of the scale that we have presented today, which I believe they are, there is a strong case for cutting them. Merseyside deserves a fire service that it can rely on and that …..." Margaret Greenwood - View Speech