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There’s been a massive and heartening response to my story last week about the sacking of dedicated trade unionist Paul Embery from the national executive of the Fire Brigades Union.

Paul, who’s been a trade union member since he was 16, was kicked out after speaking in favour of Brexit at a Leave Means Leave rally. The official policy of the FBU is to oppose leaving the EU.

Paul, who represented the London region of the FBU on its national executive, seems to have paid a high price for publicly disagreeing.

Now the London Regional Committee has issued a statement saying his sacking from the national executive “is wrong and goes against the entire ethos of our union” and has demanded his immediate reinstatement.

"Having considered the evidence, it is clear to us that Paul has been debarred from office because of the content of a speech that he made at a pro-Brexit event organised by Leave Means Leave on the evening of 29 March 2019," it wrote.

"People are, of course, free to agree or disagree with Paul's personal opinions on this and other matters, but the London Regional Committee recognises the right of all officials to hold and express political views that are not necessarily the views of the FBU.”

And it quoted the FBU general secretary Matt Wrack previously claiming to support free speech, saying: "To address the huge challenges our movement faces today, we need to build a culture of debate and democracy which accepts that there will be different views and sharp difference of opinion. Democracy must include the right to express those differences."

That sentiment does not seem to apply when it comes to his members who oppose the EU.

The group Trade Unionists Against the EU said: “All true democrats should stand with Paul.”

Support for him on social media has been widespread, a typical tweet reading: “Rank-and-file firefighters are behind you 100%, Paul”.

Another said: “The trouble is that @fbunational are now backed into a corner over what was an arbitrary and petty-minded decision. Will they be big enough to admit it and change their minds?”

And a third posted: “As a socialist and a trade union member I support your demand for Paul’s reinstatement. He shouldn’t be barred just for supporting the referendum result to leave the EU and saying this at a rally. I’ve watched his speech and he said nothing wrong!”

(Image: Evening Chronicle)

Some posts were directly addressed to the FBU general secretary Matt Wrack, such as one saying: “Punishing an official who exercised his right to free speech, regardless of the subject or platform is undemocratic, as you well know.”

Other messages read: “I’m a supporter of the FBU but this is shocking. We have free speech in our country and I hope they see sense and reinstate Paul, regardless of his views on Brexit”, and “This disgraceful action needs to be instantly reversed. Paul is a massive loss.”

I sense that this is going to be a running sore for the union until it’s sorted.

The FBU will not comment further pending a possible appeal.