Military planners were temporarily deployed to Birmingham to assist with the city’s ongoing waste collection crisis, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
In response to written parliamentary questions from James Cartlidge MP, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said that “following a Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) request from the Ministry of Housing, Community, and Local Government, a small number of military personnel deployed to support Birmingham City Council.”
He clarified that the support was “focused on operational planning only” and that “this support has now concluded.”
The confirmation comes amid a major waste crisis gripping Birmingham. Since 11 March, an all-out strike by Unite union members has left thousands of tonnes of uncollected rubbish piling up across the city. The worsening situation led Birmingham City Council to declare a major incident and request external assistance to help coordinate a response.
Following the council’s declaration, the government authorised limited military support. However, soldiers were not tasked with physically collecting waste; instead, they provided office-based logistical planning to help coordinate civilian efforts.
The Ministry of Defence has stressed that the deployment was strictly confined to planning support, underlining that the Armed Forces’ involvement was temporary and limited. The operation has now concluded, with the military planners having withdrawn from Birmingham.
Talks between Unite and Birmingham City Council are ongoing. Unite has announced that striking workers are voting on a “partial deal” which could potentially bring the dispute to an end early next week, offering hope for a resolution to a crisis that has seen growing public frustration and mounting public health concerns.
The British military, your firemen/binmen/abattoir workers/emergency workers*.
And yet there’s still those who decry their funding
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