Skip to main content
FBU's Lucy Masoud says media should stop the sexist language

SENIOR firefighter Lucy Masoud hit out at politicians and pundits today over the backlash faced by London Fire Brigade (LFB) chief Dany Cotton when she suggested media outlets should say “firefighter” rather than “fireman.”

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) treasurer said change “really needs to come from the mainstream media and politicians” as when a word is used regularly “it becomes part of your language.”

Ms Masoud’s comments followed a speech at a Young Women’s Trust event by LFB chief Dany Cotton, who revealed the level of abuse she had received for suggesting Fireman Sam should be renamed Firefighter Sam “made me want to back off and hide in a cave.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
STANDING HER GROUND: Welsh Labour Party MP Beth Winter (first from right front, when Welsh Labour Party MP) and Labour MP for Liverpool, Riverside, Kim Johnson (to her left) on the picket line outside the office of HM Treasury, in Westminster in February 2023
Interview / 6 May 2026
6 May 2026

David Nicholson spoke to BETH WINTER about her bid to become a Senedd member as an independent running on a community grassroots campaign

Resisting Operation Dudula: why we must name xenophobia in South Africa
Features / 23 August 2025
23 August 2025

We are experiencing a wave of organised, often deadly violence targeting migrants from other parts of Africa — but the poorest South Africans reject this hatred, staying true to the spirit of Ubuntu and Pan-African unity, reports NIGEL BRANKEN

Philipa Harvey speaks to conference
Features / 21 June 2025
21 June 2025

ROS SITWELL reports from the Morning Star conference on ‘Race, Sex and Class Liberation’ last weekend