Army fury as soldiers ordered to give up Christmas over strikes
Troops should not have to cover for those earning much more than them, say sources
SOLDIERS should not be made to miss Christmas to cover striking NHS workers who earn more than them, senior military figures have told ministers.
The Government plans to rely on hundreds of Army personnel to stand in for Border Force officers at airports during eight days of strikes this month, and potentially to cover for ambulance drivers and firefighters as well.
But The Daily Telegraph has been told that the military believes it is “not right” for soldiers, who are banned by law from striking, to have to replace public sector workers walking out over the festive season.
Senior members of the Armed Forces are understood to have warned ministers that the plan risks weakening the military’s “operational capability”.
One senior defence source said: “You’ve only got to look at a private soldier on £22,000 a year and whose pay scales have not kept up with inflation for the last decade, having to give up Christmas, or come straight off operations, to cover for people who want 19 per cent [salary increases] and are already paid in excess of what he or she would be, and it’s just not right.
“The Government’s first lever it reaches for every time there is any difficulty – whether it’s floods, strikes, all the rest of it – is the Armed Forces, as opposed to it being the last resort.”
The Government has announced that 2,000 military personnel and volunteers are undergoing training to stand in to support a range of services including Border Force officers at airports.
More troops could be sent out to drive ambulances during an NHS strike on Dec 21, although an official request has not yet been made. Servicemen could also serve as firefighters if members of the Fire Brigades Union back industrial action. One military source said that Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, shared concerns that the Armed Forces were seen as “free help” and had raised the issue on Tuesday at Cabinet. However, a spokesman for Mr Wallace insisted this was not the case.
It came as Border Force staff last night announced eight days of strikes at Britain’s largest airports from Dec 23 – leaving Christmas travellers facing holiday flight delays. The Public and Commercial Services union will take action at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff airports, and also at Newhaven port.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has threatened to ban ambulance drivers and other emergency workers from striking as part of tough new laws to tackle a wave of action.
Ministers are looking at a new legal minimum level of service that the NHS and other public services must provide during strikes, as well as considering a ban on co-ordinated strikes between public sector unions. But last night
Tory MPS told Mr Sunak to go further, saying the Government needed to act with more “urgency”.
Sir Christopher Chope said: “It’s not as though all this has bubbled up at the last minute. We have known it’s in the offing. It’s all very well talking tough, but people need to be protected now. It is essentially an issue about power. And preventing yourself as the Government from being held to ransom.”
In another sign of the damage the strikes may cause, Drax – Britain’s biggest power station – was yesterday forced to promise it will be able to keep the lights on during next week’s rail strikes despite warnings that deliveries of fuel to keep it running would be significantly disrupted.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party said it would rip up strike laws if it came to power – making it easier for unions to take industrial action.
The Telegraph understands there is tension in the military at the idea that soldiers who may have planned to relax over their Christmas break will be made to cover striking NHS workers.
Military figures stressed it was hypocritical to “use public servants who receive one of the smallest pay awards and legally can’t strike, and have no independent advocate body, to cover for public servants who do”.
One said: “The Government’s answer when things get sticky is to use the Armed Forces in non-traditional roles, but when it rolls around to pay reviews it never seems to be reflected.” The standard wage for a soldier at the rank of private is £21,424, compared with £27,055 for a paramedic with less than two years’ experience.
The source said that while it was “unreasonable to say you can’t use soldiers when the country needs them”, at a time when the Army is due to be cut
by 10,000 troops this needed to be reflected in its future size. “If you do want the Army for that then you’ll need a bigger force,” they said.
Gen Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army, said: “It looks as if there will be disruption over the Christmas period and I have a lot of sympathy for servicepeople whose Christmas gets spoilt because others have chosen to strike.”
He said that while the Armed Forces are the nation’s “reserve of trained manpower”, the military “is much, much smaller than it used to be, so this puts much more pressure on soldiers, sailors and airmen to respond in this way”.
Defence sources also said that ministers have been in talks with the military regarding worries that diverting troops from their main job will “diminish” skills. They said: “The job of soldiers is not to be replacements... their skills are diminishing and it reduces their readiness. What distinguishes us is that we have to be able to train and maintain those skill levels. It’s getting to the point where the Government are starting to see the Armed Forces as a manpower substitute.”
The UK is expected to face a strike almost every day until the New Year, with nurses set to walk out for two days, Royal Mail workers planning strikes and ambulance workers and civil servants also backing action. Defence sources warned of the capability gap presented by using military personnel who might not necessarily have the appropriate skills required to drive ambulances or fight fires.
The source said: “Some people will have qualifications for blue lights and can drive that size of vehicle. We have medics who operate with the NHS, but not enough of them. When it comes to fire we have some specialists in defence fire service, naval firefighters, air force firefighters, but they aren’t trained in the same way as the fire brigade are. They aren’t a complete substitute.”