I don't think many more firefighters could have attended even if they were on strike. during the strike the on-shift are on the picket-lines except when they leave the lines to attend 'persons reported' calls for free. if they all came down to london then there really would be only military emergency cover and we would all be up the creek (and never mind the paddle, we wouldn't even have a canoe)

Hi Guido, hope it's okay to use one of these pics on fp4f.com (the FBU/TUC demo site) - please let me know if not. I've credited & linked to this page. Sorry couldn't contact you direct!
Best wishes, John

PS thanks for the coverage of this - I'd hoped to upload a bunch here too, but my camera broke (after I'd taken 180 snaps, gutted!). It's good to see the pic of the set off at embankment. I was on the same bridge, and it was really inspiring to see the whole street full of people, as far back as you could see, after we'd been worried the cold or media confusion over the dispute would keep people away.