They said that nearly 1,800 young servicemen and women had died outside of combat since 1990.Police are investigating the deaths of Privates Geoff Gray, from Hackney, east London; James Collinson, 17, from Perth; Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen; and Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings, East Sussex.The Ministry of Defence review is aimed at “rationalising” training. A spokesman said the possible closure of Deepcut had nothing to do with recent events. “This was all set out in the Strategic Defence Review long before any investigations into conduct at Deepcut”.. There was dismay in the Government last night at the failure of talks aimed at heading off the eight-day strike by firefighters that is due to begin this morning. “We don’t know what the employers are playing at; it’s megaphone negotiating,” said one government source.The Government had naturally hoped to avoid a second strike.

Recognising that an eight-day stoppage would be much more dangerous than last week’s 48-hour strike, ministers have put in place more detailed contingency plans, including the use of civilians to cross picket lines to release red engines from fire stations.The hardline message from the Government last night was that “public safety must come before the sanctity of the picket line”. Although Tony Blair would not lose much sleep over this, some ministers – such as John Prescott – will instinctively feel uncomfortable.In the battle ahead, the Cabinet will be anxious to maintain a united front. But there are important differences simmering beneath the surface. Mr Prescott, whose department is responsible for the fire service, has taken a more conciliatory line towards the firefighters than Mr Blair and the Chancellor, Gordon Brown.The Deputy Prime Minister, who has worked hard behind the scenes to bring the employers and the union together, has been irritated by the hawkish stance of Downing Street and the Treasury, which he believes has undermined his efforts to resolve the dispute.”John has played a blinder – things would have been much worse without him,” said one ally. “But the mixed messages from the Government have not helped him.”Mr Prescott was furious when Mr Blair privately dubbed the FBU leadership as “Scargillite” and is believed to have told the Prime Minister to stop such “rhetoric”.

The Blair comments reinforced the claims by the FBU that a group of ultra-Blairites in Downing Street were aching for a chance for the Prime Minister to emulate Margaret Thatcher’s year-long battle with the miners in 1984-85.. Britain’s firefighters began an eight-day stoppage at 9am after an agreement reached during all-night negotiations on pay and fire service modernisation was rejected by the Government

Britain’s firefighters began an eight-day stoppage at 9am after an agreement reached during all-night negotiations on pay and fire service modernisation was rejected by the Government
News that the first eight-day-long strike in the dispute would go ahead came at 7.30am today – 90 minutes before it was due to start. FBU leader Andy Gilchrist blamed last-minute Government intervention and accused the Government of “wrecking” the chance of a deal. Union officials said that an agreement had been reached with employers, but it could not be ratified because Ministers insisted on vetting it.Neither John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, nor his officials were able to read the agreement before the 9am deadline for the start of the strike.Mr Prescott said this morning that the FBU should have called off the strike while the deal was examined by ministers. Agreeing to it without looking at it first would have been like “signing a bouncing cheque”, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. The Governmenbt then drew a line in thhe sand with Fire service minister Nick Raynsford declaring that the employers had “surrendered” item after item during the night’s negotiations.”I am afraid what happened last night was a very sad muddle.

But there remained a funding gap of around £80 million which the unions and employers oped the Government would pick up.During overnight discussions, Mr Gilchrist held a series of private talks with local authority employers before reporting back to his union’s executive. Accompanied by the union’s president Ruth Winters and assistant general secretary Mike Fordham, he met three senior employers’ leaders for two hours at a hotel near Euston station in central London. He then returned at 2.30am to brief his executive at another hotel nearby. The union’s 19-member executive voted unanimously to accept the proposed deal and call off the strike. Meeting in the library of the Russell Hotel close to Euston station they took the vote at 5.30am.