FIREFIGHTERS must unite against the latest attacks on union rights from the “Tory self-interested millionaires’ club,” Fire Brigades Union (FBU) president Ian Murray demanded today.

Addressing the opening day of the union’s three-day annual conference in Blackpool, Mr Murray slammed ministers for having “plenty of ideas on how to attack our union and not a word on how to improve fire-and-rescue services.”

The 13^th president in the union’s 105-year history blasted the widely condemned Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which aims to empower bosses and even ministers to force workers to cross their own picket lines.

“We’ll fight them with every weapon in our armoury to oppose this denial of our right to strike and we’ll carry on fighting until the laws are scrapped,” he told delegates in the Imperial Hotel.

Mr Murray, from Hull, East Yorkshire, welcomed Labour’s pledge to repeal the legislation at the first opportunity if passed, but he promised to “hold the party’s feet to the fire” on the issue. 

The FBU represents firefighters and emergency control room staff.