The ‘troubling’ ties between London firefighters and a secretive men's club

Exclusive: London Fire Brigade drops Freemason reform recommended by official misogyny review

Morning — lately there’s been much attention on London’s posh private clubs and the influence they afford to their male-only members. The Garrick Club near Covent Garden specifically, following revelations that top UK politicians and lawyers shmooze behind its closed doors. But, under the radar, there’s a historic men’s club with strong links to a profession far more relevant to everyday life in the capital: the Freemasons and London firefighters.

At the mention of the F word, you might think the Spy has gone full tinfoil hat with this one. So just to be clear, we’re not intent on exposing Masonic control of world events. Instead, the links between London Fire Brigade (LFB) and Freemasonry cropped up last year, when a union that represents firefighters raised concern about a £2.5m donation for equipment. As the Guardian reported, female members of the Fire Brigades Union were alarmed, wondering what the cash implied about the Freemasons of London’s influence at LFB. The somewhat secretive society excludes women from much of its activity, which today is largely focused on charity work.

The wider context to know about London’s firefighters right now is that they’re facing a reckoning over internal misogyny. At the end of 2022, an official report exposed grim and long-standing issues with the way women are treated within LFB — groping during training sessions, bullying under the guise of “banter”. The Independent Culture Review was wide-ranging, making a total of 23 recommendations for reform, but one was explicitly directed at the brigade’s links to the Freemasons. The review had heard evidence from a former LFB boss, Dany Cotton, who said she had witnessed examples of cronyism first-hand, like male colleagues expecting promotions due to their Freemason ties. Most bizarrely, Cotton told the review she had received “threatening phone calls” when she’d tried to put forward Freemason reforms while working in the brigade’s equalities team. 

Today, the Spy can reveal two new facts about London firefighters’ relationship with the Freemasons. First, while the LFB has previously sought to reassure Londoners it’s “not unusual” for emergency services to accept donations, we’ve obtained internal records that show the Freemasons have been the only group making sizeable donations to the brigade in the last decade. Second, we’ve learnt that LFB has failed to fully implement recommendations regarding the Freemasons from the Independent Culture Review. The brigade was specifically told to make all candidates for promotion disclose any Freemason membership, along with those sitting on the promotion panel, but it’s failed to do so — snubbing a key reform for combatting cronyism.

Opinion is divided within City Hall on what to do about the close ties. Reacting to the Spy’s findings, London Assembly member Zack Polanksi has called on the LFB to sever its links with the Freemasons, saying: “The deep-seated presence of a historically male-only organisation throughout the LFB should trouble any Londoner”. But when we asked the mayor of London, a spokesperson only told us “a rigorous and thorough due diligence process” would be undertaken for future donations, without explaining why the Freemason reform had been dropped.

It’s hard to argue with the fact the Freemason cash has paid for equipment that makes LFB’s job of protecting Londoners easier. And as for the Freemasons themselves, they tell the Spy their human rights are at stake. The debate around monitoring the Masons raises the question: is it legal, let alone morally justified, to track who firefighters mingle with in their free time, once they’ve clocked off from saving lives in London?

The complicated relationship between London firefighters and the Freemasons is below.

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Into the world of London firefighting and Freemasonry

London fire commissioner Andy Roe (right) accepting a £2.5m donation from the London Freemasons in March 2020

There’s a fair chance you’ve seen one of London’s new Masonic fire vehicles driving around the capital. They’re hard to miss when you know what to look for — a logo with a measuring compass and square rule on the side of the car, above the text: “Donated by London Freemasons”.  

Or perhaps you’re one of the 100,000 people who’ve viewed this YouTube video posted by the London Freemasons two years ago, where a firefighter demonstrates a donated ladder. “We’re here today at Dagenham fire station to put the 64-metre turntable ladder through its paces,” they explain, adding: “It’s currently the tallest rescue platform in the UK”. There’s also this video, where a drone zooms out from the ladder as it towers over the London skyline at full extension, accompanied by a rousing orchestral soundtrack. 

This gear was bought for the LFB by the Freemasons with a £2.5m donation, given to the brigade in chunks between 2017 and 2020. It’s top-of-the-line life-saving equipment — the ladders particularly, which will improve LFB’s response to high-rise fires in the wake of the tragedy at Grenfell Tower. A ceremony at Freemasons Hall in central London marked the final transfer of cash in March 2020, and featured a giant novelty cheque. London fire commissioner Andy Roe posed for a photo with Freemason grand master Sir Michael Snyder. Behind them are rows of Freemasons in suits and ceremonial collars draped around their shoulders. You can see they’re wearing the traditional Masonic white gloves, a symbol within the society reminding members to carry out “actions that are pure in intent”. Another thing jumps out: they’re all men.