Church / National Party Agree on Firefighter Controversy

Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, and Walter Hamilton, British National Party organizer, may seem to have little in common, but both are united in their belief that nine members of the Red Watch at Cowcaddens Fire Station, Glasgow, ought to have been allowed to refuse to staff the fire safety information stall at the Pride Scotia festival in Glasgow, Equality Network, a national network of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups and people in Scotland, reports in a press release.

Pride Scotia, the annual march and festival for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities in Scotland, took place this year in Glasgow on Saturday 24th June. The community information area included stalls staffed by Strathclyde Police, Scottish Prison Service, British Transport Police and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue (SFR).

After the news broke that nine firefighters had refused to attend the Pride festival, one woman who had gone to the festival said: “I'd just like to note that those firefighters who did attend Pride were courteous and helpful and gave no sign of any prejudice, so this plainly isn't a problem which affects the whole of the service. However, it does worry me, especially as Cowcaddens is my local fire station. I've chatted with its officers many times and am wondering now if I ought first to have warned them that they may find such conversations went against their conscience.”

She can be reassured by SFR’s measured response: "The nine now accept they should have performed their duties at the Pride Scotia festival. Their refusal was a fundamental breach of one of their core responsibilities. Firefighters are well aware that fire prevention education and spreading the fire safety message is not a minor part of their job - it ranks alongside fire-fighting as a core, statutory duty. Firefighters cannot, and will not, pick and choose to whom they offer fire safety advice.”

Walter Hamilton of the Glasgow British National Party argued that this was “politically correct bullying” and that the firefighters had “refused to take part in the event on moral grounds”.

Echoing the BNP’s comments, Archbishop Conti of Glasgow said: “That the officers concerned are being forced to undergo ‘diversity training’ is alarming. The duty to obey one's conscience is a higher duty than that of obeying orders.”

A spokesperson for the Equality Network said “When an organization – school, hospital, or fire brigade - is providing a public service, it is bound by the ethics of public service not to discriminate against any members of the community it serves. We think that Strathclyde Fire and Rescue reacted appropriately to the firefighters who mistakenly thought otherwise. We would have reacted as strongly if firefighters had refused to staff a fire safety stall at a Roman Catholic school, and we are disappointed that the Archbishop feels that prejudice overrides public responsibilities.”

Strathclyde Fire & Rescue assert their responsibility is to protect every one of the 2.3million people it serves, irrespective of their race, religion or sexuality.

Pride Scotia Glasgow responds: “We are dismayed at the lack of dignity displayed by the Archbishop in his response to the disciplinary action taken by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue. He states that ‘firefighters had legitimate concerns about being the subject of taunts and jokes…’ LGBT people are often the subject of taunts and jokes, exactly because of bigoted views such as this. People like the Archbishop are in a position of respect and authority and are obliged not to act in ways that will exacerbate discriminatory behavior. He goes on to say that ‘the duty to obey one’s conscience is a higher duty than that of obeying orders’. Surely this very remark highlights that to most people the matter of conscience when working in a service such as the Fire Service would ensure that saving lives would be a priority. In terms of the men being forced to undergo diversity training, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue already have an impressive Diversity and Training package, the only drawback to which seems to be its failure in being cascaded down to rank and file staff.”