PROPOSED cuts to the fire service in Greater Manchester — which could see all serving firefighters lose their jobs — have been labelled as an ‘absolute scandal' by a borough MP.

The Fire Brigades Union is now considering strike action over plans to introduce a compulsory 12-hour shift rota from April next year.

All firefighters working in the region could be threatened with dismissal if they do not agree to the new shifts along with a raft of job cuts which are aimed at saving £14.8 million following a drop in government funding.

The Greater Manchester Fire Authority has proposed cutting firefighters by 253 from the current 1,017 positions. This is already down by more than half from the 2,200 firefighters employed in 1996.

Mr Crausby, who represents Bolton North East, said: “The very suggestion that every firefighter in Greater Manchester could be made redundant is an absolute scandal.

“It is emblematic of this Government’s approach to our key public services; they keep cutting back funding until there’s nothing left then passing the blame once jobs start to go and services start to disappear.

He added: “Firefighters deserve to be treated with respect, this includes funding the service properly and making sure there are enough of them to do the job with minimum risk.

“I give my backing to the FBU in the fight against these cuts in Greater Manchester and hope that a strong Labour opposition will emerge in Parliament to challenge the Government as these cuts put this vital service at risk.”

A meeting of representatives from fire stations across Greater Manchester this week agreed to step up the campaign against the proposals.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU said: “This is a disgraceful attack on dedicated and hard-working professional firefighters.

“Let's be absolutely clear, the Greater Manchester fire authority has now started the process to sack its workforce.

“We are willing to negotiate changes, as we always have. However, we are not willing to be threatened with the sack in this way.

He added: “We will now be undertaking a campaign using every legal, political and industrial weapon we have. That will include asking our members about the need for strike action.”

Councillor David Acton, chairman of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “Government cuts of £28 million over the last six years have meant a reduction of over 400 firefighters from the front line in Greater Manchester as well as significant back office cuts.

"Currently Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority faces a further Government budget cut of £14.4million over the next four years. The scale of these Government cuts has left us with no alternative and no change is not an option.

“We will be moving to these new shifts from April 1, 2017. We consulted on this and received no alternatives which would save the amount of money we need to cut. We have been negotiating with the FBU since January on this issue alone. For this reason, the Fire Authority agreed implementation. We are now trying to work with our firefighters and the FBU to agree how we move to the new system. We have not issued notices to anyone at this stage. We have no intention to make anyone redundant."

Consultation about the management proposals will start start this week and last 45 days.