£20 daily bonus for troops covering Christmas strikes

Military personnel covering public sector strikes over the Christmas period are to be paid daily bonuses of £20.

The Ministry of Defence said the payments were for those asked to step in from 19 December to 2 January.

Around 625 personnel are filling in for Border Force staff striking at UK airports this week.

On Wednesday, around 750 were drafted in to help during walkouts from ambulance staff in England and Wales.

Members of the armed forces do not have the right to strike, and can be called upon to guarantee emergency services during industrial action.

But Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin recently cautioned against seeing the military as an "ultimate backstop" during walkouts.

The MoD said the £20 payments would come out of the department's budget, and be made for each day of cover or training beforehand.

The payments are after tax and would be paid to military staff as part of their monthly salary, the department added.

Military staff covered ambulance strikes earlier this week during action by the Unison, Unite and the GMB unions striking over pay.

Ministers said they would help get people to A&E more quickly, but would not be allowed to drive ambulances under blue lights, go through red lights or break the speed limit.

Military staff have also been asked to cover striking Border Force officials from the PCS union at six airports and the Port of Newhaven in Sussex.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was "incredibly grateful" that the armed forces were going "above and beyond" at short notice to keep services going.

He blamed unions for the industrial action, accusing them of holding "our public services to ransom".

Shadow defence secretary John Healey said the government's "small gesture is better than nothing" but forces were "once again having to bail out Conservative ministers who are grinding our country to a halt".

The MoD also said the current rules under which it charges for the use of military staff would be reviewed early next year.

The procedure, under which the MoD bills other government departments for using the armed forces, has been used increasingly in recent years because of their role in the response to the Covid pandemic.

The government has set out a long-term ambition to reduce its reliance on the regular armed forces during emergency situations.

In a strategy document published earlier this week, it said using military staff should be a "last resort" and in future it wanted to make greater use of reservists.

Last week, the top civil servant at the MoD told MPs it was charging other parts of government £4,000 per week per staff member to ensure they were being used as a "last resort" during industrial action.