Last month we heard of a disturbing culture in The Royal Navy submarines. This month a report has revealed the London Fire Brigade is little better. An independent review found there was a disturbing culture of bullying and harassment against both ethnic minorities and women and this was evident at all levels of the service.

The report found that women were groped by male colleagues, black firefighters were often subject to threatening racism, including an incident of having a noose put in a locker, while a Muslim firefighter would have bacon put in his sandwiches. The report was also told that the threshold for bullying and harassment in company procedures was so high that unless there was violent conduct most other offences would be written off as banter.

The commissioner of the Fire Department has stated dismissals will be made if firefighters are found to have bullied or discriminated against colleagues. However, given the cultural issues with both reporting and investigation perhaps it would be better to create better reporting and investigation procedures. In the past similar damming reports have been issued about the NHS and Civil Service suggesting the public sector needs a cultural overhaul.