AFTER a weekend of truculence there appeared to be no end in sight for the firefighters' strike. We seemed destined for wave after wave of industrial action well into the new year.

Both the FBU and Government ministers seemed to prefer trading insults to finding a way to break the deadlock.

In such circumstances the FBU's decision to call off the strike action planned to start tomorrow is surprising, but nonetheless welcome. We hope it signals the end of the megaphone industrial relations which have dominated this dispute, and a return to constructive dialogue.

If the intervention of Acas has been so decisive, it begs the question why Acas failed to intervene at an earlier stage in proceedings.

Whatever the outcome, there can be no victors in this dispute. The FBU has managed to oversee a dilution in public support and respect for one of the most popular workforces in the public sector. The local government employers have shown themselves to be weak and ineffectual. And the Government has portrayed itself as bumbling.

When, and if, a negotiated settlement is reached, no side will be able to claim any degree of honour.

The firefighters were never going to be given an unconditional pay increase way above the rate of inflation. But the Government was dishonest in not spelling out exactly what it meant by modernisation.

And the FBU was dishonest in maintaining its demands for a 40 per cent rise yet still appearing reluctant to make significant concessions in return.

It is to be hoped that Acas will take the propaganda battle out of these negotiations, and examine the undoubted merits of the FBU's case and the merits of the Government's wish to reform anachronistic practices within the service.

An agreement which rewards firefighters fairly for their skills while still retaining levels of public safety is, and always has been, within reach.

It is a great pity that it has taken two strikes and a host of recriminations before common sense has begun to prevail.