Some 500 British Army personnel could begin five days of training on November 21 to replace striking Border Force officers at the country’s ports and airports, according to Home Office sources.
This initiative follows Thursday’s vote in favor of strike action approved by the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents Border Force guards across the country.
However, there are still some kinks to be worked out for this deployment because, according to ‘The Guardian’ sources, the use of the Army for this purpose is a sensitive issue given that it would turn the military into a scab force and could end up dealing with such complex issues as the spike in cross-Channel migrant arrivals.
The Home Office has to ask for help from Defense under the protocol for military assistance to civil authorities, which leaves the final signature in the hands of the current head of the latter portfolio, Ben Wallace.
For the time being, the union’s general secretary, Mark Serwotka, has described the Interior request as an act of «desperation» by the incumbent minister, Suella Braverman. «The Army is making it clear that it does not want to waste time covering up the government’s mistakes,» he said.
«Instead of looking for increasingly desperate solutions, the government should sit down with us at the negotiating table and agree on a fair pay raise,» she added.
