Hundreds of British Army troops are training to drive ambulances and work as firefighters, in the event that industrial action should take place - according to the Government.
In the region of 2,000 military personnel, civil servants and other government volunteers are said to have been preparing, while ministers brace themselves for strikes across the public sector.
The Cabinet Office have announced that they included up to 600 military troops, as well as 700 staff from the Gov's specialist Surge and Rapid Response Team - while also drafting in other members from across the Civil Service.
The PA News Agency reports that as well as covering for fire and ambulance crews, these workers may also find themselves posting up in ports and airports, should Border Force staff decide to follow suit in striking. Conservative Party chairman Nadim Zahawi said that ministers are determined to minimise any disruption as a backlash from planned bouts of industrial action in the coming weeks.
Speaking to Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday, he said: "It is the right and responsible thing to do to have contingency plans in place. We have a very strong team at Cobra (civil contingencies committee) who are doing a lot of the work in looking at what we need to do to minimise the disruption to people’s lives.”
The Cabinet Office revealed that although no decisions have yet been taken over deploying troops, they are a part of the 'range of options available' should planned industrial action take place.
It said: "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."
The planned measures come after a series of unions across the public sector prepare to carry out strike action or ballot their members, in a long running dispute with the Government over pay and working conditions. Along with ambulance staff, NHS nurses will hold two days of action on 15 and 21 of December, while junior doctors are set to be balloted for similar strikes.
Widespread disruption to transport is expected in the run up to Christmas, as further rail strikes and baggage handlers at Heathrow walk out - with a possibility of Border Force staff joining in. The union for fire brigades across the UK is also balloting its members, with industrial action continuing at Royal Mail.
Mr Zahawi said that while he was 'absolutely conscious' of the difficulties that many workers face, the country simply cannot afford inflation or above-inflation pay awards. He admitted that rising prices were being driven by energy costs, amid the ongoing Ukraine and Russian war, appealing to unions to drop demands.
He added: “This is not a time to be divided. We have to come together to, I hope, send a very clear message to Mr Putin that he can’t use energy as a weapon in this way. If you chase inflation or above-inflation pay then you will embed inflation for longer and hurt the most vulnerable.
"This is not a time to strike, this is a time to negotiate. To ask for a 19 per cent pay rise (for nurses) which would cost the NHS £10 billion I think is the wrong thing to do right now. If you accept all the inflation-level pay rises, that is about £28 billion. It would cost every household just short of £1,000.
"That is unsustainable when we are trying to be fiscally disciplined.”
Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen angrily dismissed Mr Zahawi’s attempt to link their action to the conflict in Ukraine. She said: “Using Russia’s war in Ukraine as a justification for a real-terms pay cut for nurses in the UK is a new low for this Government. The public does not believe this kind of rhetoric and wants ministers to address our dispute.
“Nursing staff cannot afford their food and other bills and still fear the worst on energy this winter. Record numbers of nurses are leaving because they feel undervalued and patients are paying the price.
“Ten days until our strike action is due to begin, I reiterate my commitment to meeting with ministers to address our dispute.”
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, added: ”Nadhim Zahawi’s allegation that Britain’s nurses, ambulance drivers and teachers are allies of Vladimir Putin is as ridiculous as it is disgraceful. Rather than running down our NHS in an act of catastrophic self-harm and threatening to bring in the military, the minister should instead ask himself why health staff are leaving in droves.
“The truth is, if pay and conditions are not dramatically improved, no army will be big enough to cover the vacancies, never mind strikes.”
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