TORY ministers have confirmed that army reservists will be called to serve if Britain crashes out of Europe with no deal.
In a statement released yesterday, the Ministry of Defence said reservists could be called into permanent military service for up to a year from February 10 “to support the implementation of contingency plans”.
Last month, the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that up to 3500 troops would be used to support government departments. Yesterday’s announcement confirmed that 10% of them would come from the reservists.
In a written statement to MPs, Defence Minister Mark Lancaster said the troops would be ready to mitigate against “immediate impacts” on the “welfare, health and security of UK citizens” as well as the “economic stability of the UK”.
Lancaster added: “Reserve forces will be on standby to deliver a range of defence outputs such as: reinforcement of regular sub-units, liaison officer roles and the provision of specialist skills. A particularly important role may be the planned reinforcement of regional points of command, to enable their 24/7 operations and resilience.
“We would also expect reserves to be drawn upon to support the implementation of contingency plans developed by other government departments.”
The SNP’s Europe spokesperson, Peter Grant, tweeted: “What responsible government would deliberately create a situation where they had to put military reservists on standby to prevent civil unrest?”
Labour MP Ian Murray, speaking on behalf of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, said: “Calling up the reserves shows just how serious the threat of a ‘no deal’ Brexit is.
“It is staggering that soldiers are being put on standby threat because of a risk of a constitutional crisis of the Government’s own making.
“A no-deal scenario should be ruled out immediately by the Prime Minister, to avoid this chaos. There is absolutely no parliamentary support for this.
“She should take her deal to the public, and agree to a People’s Vote which includes the option of remaining in the EU and avoiding the need for soldiers on the streets.”
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