Armed forces heroes stepping in for strikers to get Christmas bonus
HERO soldiers who step in to cover striking staff will get a Christmas bonus.
Hard-working forces who have had to to cancel their deserved break with their own families to save Christmas will get a pay bump.
Personnel will receive an extra £20 for every day they spend training or are deployed on strike action during the festive period.
More than 1,000 people from across the Army, Navy and RAF have been trained up to fill in for striking staff at the borders, fire and rescue services, and in the NHS in the last few weeks.
They will be checking passports, driving ambulances and performing other roles over the holidays.
It comes after The Sun called on ministers to honour our hard working forces men and women who are keeping the country moving during rolling strikes with an extra pay boost.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and the Chief of Defence Staff have personally thanked them for giving up their Christmas to make sure Brits are safe.
600 stepped in earlier this week to drive ambulances - and another 625 are covering the borders from today.
Defence Secretary Ben 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.”
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Brits will get the payments in their next month's salary.
The extra cash will come from the MoD's existing budget.