Union wants polluters taxed

THE Fire Brigades Union is calling on ministers to tax polluters as services struggle to respond to the growing impacts of climate change, such as wildfires and floods.

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The union, which represents more than 30,000 fire responders in the UK, has joined the Polluters Pay Pact - a Greenpeace initiative that brings together climate-hit communities, concerned citizens, first responders and political leaders.

The pact urges governments around the world to make high-emitting firms pay their fair share for the climate damage caused.

In the UK, the Energy Profits Levy was implemented in May 2022 in response to skyrocketing profits made by oil and gas firms amid a sharp rise in energy prices.

After being increased in the most recent UK Government budget, oil and gas producers are currently paying a headline tax rate of 78%.

The levy will end when prices fall to or below a set price floor, or in March 2030.

However, the Fire Brigades Union warned that a decade of funding cuts has left the fire and rescue service fragmented, overstretched and chronically underfunded.