Military staff and civil servants could be called in to assist at border control and ports in an attempt to mitigate the impact of upcoming strike action.
It's just one of the measures set to be discussed at a Cobra meeting on Monday, as the UK faces a fresh wave of strikes. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, workers from nurses, paramedics and rail workers to Border Force officials are set to walk out over pay and conditions.
The Government confirmed that military personnel and civil servants are being trained to help step in, including into hospital trusts in order to familiarise themselves with ambulance operations ahead of ambulance strike scheduled for December 21.
Staff at Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff airports will strike for eight days from December 23 to New Year’s Eve. The government said some members are already being trained up as part of contingency planning by Border Force officials in an attempt to quell widespread travel chaos at Christmas.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden will on Monday lead the first of two Cobra (civil contingencies committee) meetings in the coming week, which will be attended by transport, health, home office and defence ministers. Another meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
Mr Dowden said called on unions to call off the “damaging” strikes.
“The stance the unions have taken will cause disruption for millions of hardworking people over the coming weeks," he said. “The Government will do all it can to mitigate the impact of this action, but the only way to stop the disruption completely is for union bosses to get back round the table and call off these damaging strikes.
“I will be chairing a series of Cobra meetings over the coming weeks to ensure our plans are as robust as possible, and that disruption is kept to a minimum.”
Royal College of Nursing members are due to take part in unprecedented strike action on December 15 and December 20, with tens of thousands of nursing staff expected to take industrial action. With a series of rail strikes also planned between now and early January, the Government has said it was working with Network Rail and freight companies to prevent delays and to ensure coal, steel and waste are prioritised.
A Royal College of Nursing spokesperson said: “The urgent meeting that the Government would really benefit from convening is with us. Negotiate now and pause these strikes.”
READ NEXT:
