A strike has been called in 10 sectors, while the government plans to mobilize the army. A contingent of 600 soldiers is being trained to drive an ambulance.
A perfect storm of snow and storms threatens to bring Britain to a standstill for the next two weeks. The storm that ravaged the British Isles on Sunday night suspended train services for hours and temporarily closed major airports.
Three children died after falling into a frozen lake in the city of Solihull, while Scotland suffered its most extreme temperature of the year, down to minus 15 degrees Celsius, and the power grid shut down two coal-fired power plants. has been restarted to meet the energy demand.
Meanwhile, the British government summoned the Cobra emergency cabinet on Monday to plan for troop mobilization starting on Thursday, when a National Health Service (NHS) strike is announced, threatening to paralyze hospitals. There is a threat, followed by a strike of ambulances and border agents. week, and before the strike at the post office and on the trains.
The first contingent of 600 soldiers, with 150 more in reserve, are already receiving training to drive ambulances and as reinforcements for emergency services starting on Thursday. Another 600 will return to action next week to replace Border Force (Border Agents) at airports and ports of entry, who have been on strike since 23 December.
“Reconsider holidays in case of disruption”
The situation is so dire that Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called on Britons to “reconsider their holiday plans due to the undeniable and serious disruption” which is expected at least until the start of the new year.
Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden said, “The position of the unions is going to have a huge impact on the lives of millions of Britons.” of the British economy, closest to a general strike.
The government accuses the unions of demanding wage increases “unreasonable” in the current economic situation, for example 19% for nurses or 26% for resident doctors. “The current demands will result in an additional £1,000 in tax for every British household and will further exacerbate the problem of inflation,” Dowden said.
Health Secretary Steven Barclay called on nurses, paramedics and resident doctors to reconsider their decision to go on strike: “In winter as we face Covid, flu and now Strep A affecting children, I Deeply concerned about the risks to which patients may be exposed.”
The dominoes of strikes will topple in any case as the storm rages on from Tuesday, with fresh strikes called by the RMT transport union, which has been blocking British trains since last summer. Buses and postmen will join the strike again on Wednesday, and a day later luggage staff at airports and driving school drivers will follow. The last to join are employees of the Environment Agency, who will also be on strike this week and stop providing services such as flood aid.
The pause drew comparisons with the winter of discontent of 1988, estimated to have cost the British economy up to 4.5 billion euros, which toppled the Labor government of James Callaghan and paved the way for Margaret Thatcher.
Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer now maintains his personal pulse with Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, although he has been accused of maintaining a vague position ahead of the wave of strikes that began last summer at the end of Boris Johnson’s government Was.
As per the norms of Trust Project
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