Hundreds of troops are being trained to drive ambulances and fight fires in the event of public sector strike action, the Government has said. Around 2,000 military personnel and civil servants are being trained to support a range of services – including Border Force at airports and ports, the Cabinet Office said on Sunday.
They include up to 600 armed forces personnel and 700 staff from the Government’s specialist Surge and Rapid Response Team, as well as other parts of the Civil Service. Ministers are also planning for the potential deployment of military personnel to assist in ambulance driving and firefighting.
“Decisions are yet to be taken on deploying troops to these tasks but they are part of the range of options available should strike action in these areas go ahead as planned,” the Cabinet Office said in a a press notice.
“The priority over the coming weeks is to protect the public who may need access to emergency services support and limit disruption as much as possible, particularly at a time when increased numbers of people will be travelling for the festive period and NHS services are under huge pressure due to the impact of Covid.”
Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi said the Government is putting contingency plans in place to minimise disruption from a series of public sector strikes. Mr Zahawi said the military could be involved in driving ambulances and securing the country’s borders.
“It is the right and responsible thing to do to have contingency plans in place,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.
“We have a very strong team at Cobra who are doing a lot of the work in looking at what we need to do to minimise the disruption to people’s lives. We have been looking at the military, we are looking at a specialist response force which we have actually set up a number of years ago.
“We have to make sure our borders are always secure and that is something we guarantee. Things like driving ambulances and other parts of the public sector – we have got to try and minimise disruption.”
The Cabinet Office said no decisions have been taken yet on the deployment of troops, but they were part of the “range of options available” should the strikes go ahead as planned.
“The priority over the coming weeks is to protect the public who may need access to emergency services support, and limit disruption as much as possible, particularly at a time when increased numbers of people will be travelling for the festive period and NHS services are under huge pressure due to the impact of Covid,” it said.
The measures come as a series of unions across public services are preparing to carry out strike action or ballot their members over pay as they seek to alleviate the squeeze on living standards from soaring inflation.
As well as ambulance staff, nurses in the NHS are due to hold two days of strikes this month while junior doctors are also set to be balloted on industrial action.
There is expected to be widespread disruption to transport in the run up to Christmas with further rails strikes, walk-outs by baggage handlers at Heathrow and possible action by Border Force staff. The Fire Brigades Union meanwhile is balloting its members while industrial action is continuing in the Post Office.
Mr Zahawi said that while he was “absolutely conscious” of how difficult it was for many workers, the country simply could not afford inflation or above-inflation pay awards.
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