UK Tory: Plans to deploy health backup army in case of strikes
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Following recent strikes in the UK over inflation and working conditions, UK Conservative Party Chairman Nadhim Zahawi says the government considers deploying health care and border services to military personnel in case of more strikes.
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Chairman of Conservative Party Nadhim Zahawi (Photo: Tom Nicholson for the Times)
The government is considering the deployment of health care and border services to military personnel in case any strikes occur during Christmas season, UK Conservative Party Chairman Nadhim Zahawi said on Sunday.
The past months have seen a wave of strikes in the United Kingdom driven by record inflation. Employees from various fields have staged strikes against job cuts and low pay and demanded better working conditions.
"We have to be able to deliver safe levels of treatment and support to patients," Zahawi told Sky News, adding the authorities have "to try and minimise disruption."
In the event of a strike by ambulance drivers and paramedics, military personnel could be "driving ambulances," Zahawi added.
About 2,000 military personnel and civil workers are being trained to support a variety of services, including border control at airports and ports, Sky News cited the government as saying.
The Bank of England raised interest rates to 3%, increasing from 2.25% - the biggest increase since 1989, as it warned of a "very challenging" outlook for the economy.
Forecasts from the bank predicted that the UK will be enduring 40-year-high inflation, reaching 11% during the incumbent quarter. However, Britain has already entered a recession that may last up to 2 years - even longer than what it endured during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
The bank's interest hike is the biggest in 33 years. However, it affirmed the predictions of many economists, according to a Reuters poll.
The regulator also said that the UK economy had entered a recession expected to last until the second half of 2024.
