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THIS BLOG CAN today reveal that legal advice that persuaded members of the Fire Brigades Union’s (FBU) ruling executive council to terminate disciplinary proceedings against general secretary Matt Wrack and national officer Riccardo la Torre was written by two barristers who both knew Wrack personally and had undertaken political campaigning alongside him over many years.… Continue reading EXPOSED: The cosy relationship between the FBU’s general secretary and two ‘impartial’ barristers who helped block a disciplinary case against him and a national officer colleague

A MAJOR CONTROVERSY has broken out in the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) after disciplinary proceedings into allegations that the general secretary, Matt Wrack, and national officer Riccardo la Torre broke union rules were abruptly terminated just days before the pair were due to face a hearing. The full details, which can be disclosed for the… Continue reading REVEALED: How the FBU’s general secretary and a national officer were facing serious disciplinary charges – until the executive council ripped up the rule book and collapsed the case

REGULAR READERS OF this blog will know that there have recently been one or two significant developments in the ongoing ‘hush money’ scandal inside the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). So we thought we’d take this opportunity to explain once again what the scandal is all about, and to answer some of the questions that are… Continue reading The FBU’s ‘hush money’ scandal: all you need to know

THIS BLOG CAN REVEAL today that a senior official of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) received a secret and unexplained tax-free payment of over £60,000 from union funds when he retired from the organisation. John McGhee served as a national officer of the FBU for 16 years. During that time, he was one of the… Continue reading Retiring FBU national officer secretly received an unexplained payment of over £60k from union funds

A LEAKED DOCUMENT appears to show that one of the FBU’s most senior officials used thousands of pounds of members’ money to fight a PRIVATE legal claim that had been lodged against him. A copy of the minutes of an FBU executive council meeting held in 2022, and which has been passed to this blog,… Continue reading Meet the FBU national officer who “used members’ money” to fight a personal legal case

IN JULY 2023, this blog reported that the FBU’s executive council member for London, David Shek, had written to the general secretary, Matt Wrack, to demand full disclosure of all information relating to secret exit payments made to departing members of the union’s staff, including elected national officers. Vast sums of FBU members’ money were… Continue reading Extraordinary twist in FBU ‘hush money’ affair as general secretary REFUSES to provide financial information to executive council member and regional committee

THE OFFICIAL trade union watchdog has REOPENED her inquiry into allegations of financial irregularities at the top of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). Back in July, this blog reported that several members and former officials of the union had made a formal complaint to the watchdog – whose official title is the ‘certification officer’ –… Continue reading Trade union watchdog REOPENS inquiry into secret exit payments to FBU national officers

BACK IN APRIL, this blog reported that an unnamed member of the FBU’s ruling executive council (EC) had lodged a legal claim of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 against the union’s general secretary, Matt Wrack. At the time, details were sketchy. However, we can now reveal that the EC member in question is London… Continue reading FBU general secretary hit with racial discrimination claim by serving executive council member

THE PAY SETTLEMENT reached between the FBU and national fire service employers through the National Joint Council (NJC) in March this year included an agreement that joint working parties would be established to discuss several related aspects of the union’s pay claim, including future pay progression and structure, retained duty system pay, and continuous professional… Continue reading Crucial pay discussions: what is going on?

THIS BLOG CAN reveal that the FBU general secretary, Matt Wrack, sent an angry late-night email to members of the union’s executive council (EC) denying a charge by this blog that a threat to discipline members who joined a breakaway union was unlawful. The threat was contained in a statement issued on 18 September by… Continue reading FBU general secretary in late-night email outburst over unlawful discipline threat