November 12 () –
Some 500 members of the British Army could begin five days of training on November 21 to replace those in charge of the Border Force who are on strike in the country’s ports and airports, according to sources from the Ministry of the Interior.
This initiative follows Thursday’s vote in favor of the strike approved by the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents Border Force guards across the country.
However, there are still fringes to resolve for this deployment because, according to ‘The Guardian’ sources, the use of the Army for this purpose is a sensitive issue given that they would turn the military into a force of scabs and could end up dealing with issues as complex as the rise in the arrival of migrants through the English Channel.
The Ministry of the Interior has to ask Defense for help under the protocol of military aid to civil authorities, which leaves the final signature in the hands of the current holder of the latter portfolio, Ben Wallace.
For now, the union’s general secretary, Mark Serwotka, has described the Interior’s request as an act of “desperation” by the titular minister, Suella Braverman. “The Army is making it very clear that it does not want to waste time covering up the government’s mistakes,” she said.
“Instead of looking for increasingly desperate solutions, the government should sit down with us at the negotiating table and agree on a fair wage increase,” he added.
