Military personnel covering for striking public sector workers over the Christmas period will receive bonus payments after disquiet over their use as "spare capacity". Daily bonuses of £20 will be paid, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced on Friday, as armed forces personnel were standing in for Border Force workers.
As well as checking passports, more than 1,000 members of the Army, Navy and RAF have been trained to cover roles including ambulance driving. Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin has been among those warning it is "slightly perilous" to treat them as the "ultimate backstop" during industrial action.
Mr Wallace said: "I am incredibly grateful for the sacrifices made this winter by members of our armed forces, who are giving up their time to keep our essential services running and to bolster UK resilience. While the unions continue to hold our public services to ransom, it is only appropriate our people are compensated for having to go above and beyond their usual tasks at short notice."
The payments of £20 after tax will be made for every day of training or cover for strike action between December 19 and January 2. Military personnel first provided ambulance cover on Wednesday, and were checking passports at borders on Friday as staff employed by the Home Office walked out over pay.
There have been suggestions of anger among some personnel as they are also struggling with low pay and are legally banned from striking. Earlier this week defence minister Baroness Goldie warned the repeated use of troops to cover strike action is "not a viable long-term solution".
Sir Tony said the military must "focus on our primary role".
"We're not spare capacity. We're busy and we're doing lots of things on behalf of the nation," he told the Sunday Telegraph. "It would be slightly perilous to rely on defence to be doing all of these things as the ultimate backstop."
