A government minister has rejected calls for a national review into misogyny and racism in the workplace following the release of a damning review into the London Fire Brigade (LFB) this week.

An independent culture review of the organisation found ‘dangerous levels of ingrained prejudice against women’, while colleagues from minority backgrounds were ‘frequently the target of racist abuse’.

Shocking incidents revealed in the report included someone putting a mock noose above a black firefighter’s locker, and a Muslim colleague who was left feeling ‘suicidal’ after co-workers stuffed pork sausages into his pockets and repeatedly referred to him as a terrorist.

A female firefighter told the review the threshold for bullying was so high ‘you would have to gouge someone’s eyes out to get sacked’, adding: ‘Everything else is seen as banter.’

She said she tells her female friends not to let male firefighters into their homes to check smoke alarms because she says they go through women’s drawers looking for underwear and sex toys.

Following the release of the report, Mr Afzal has called for a ‘national inquiry’ into other public bodies, saying he was approached by people who work in the NHS, the BBC, the military and police forces with similar concerns.

‘We’re not talking about a tiny outbreak here, a tiny outbreak there,’ he said.

‘This is a national pandemic issue, which requires a national pandemic-type response.’

A review into the workplace culture at the London Fire Brigade revealed instutional levels of toxic misogyny and racist bullying (Picture: Getty)

But when asked about the prospect of this by Sky’s Sophy Ridge, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: ‘I don’t think you want every organisation in the entire country, when there hasn’t been a specific event, to be setting up inquiries all over the place.

‘But I do think all leaders of organisations should look at that report and think whether it could happen in their organisation, and if they think it could then they should think about what they need to do about making sure it couldn’t.’

The review was established in response to the death of firefighter Jaden Francois-Esprit, who took his own life in August 2020.

It made 23 recommendations and took 10 months to compile and was based on the experiences of hundreds of staff members.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said there was ‘no need’ for a nationwide review into workplace racism and bullying following the release of the explosive report (Picture: Shutterstock)

Speaking about the findings, Mr Harper said: ‘Frankly they were absolutely appalling. I worked in business before I was in politics and that behaviour just wouldn’t be acceptable in any workplace.

‘That inquiry was triggered by a specific case, of the tragic suicide of someone who took their own life as a result of bullying, I don’t know any similar examples of elsewhere.’

He praised London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe for accepting the report’s findings, saying that is the ‘sort of leadership you want’.

Mr Roe told a briefing at LFB headquarters on Saturday: ‘We are going to take a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and discrimination.

‘What that means, if we think about the immediate steps, is that I expect to dismiss people as a result of this report.

‘Clearly, there are some disturbing examples of where we have betrayed public confidence and trust in this report.’

Asked how many people could lose their jobs, he added: ‘If we find that you have behaved in a way that is highlighted in this report, there is not a place for you in the London Fire Brigade.

‘In a way the numbers don’t matter to me.’

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Transport Secretary Mark Harper rejects calls for a review into the UK’s workplace culture after reports of racism and bullying at the London Fire Brigade.