Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training was provided to military personnel deployed to cover Border Force staff participating in the PCS trade union strike action on 23-26 December and 28-31 December.

The Home Office’s priority is to deliver a safe and secure border and we will never compromise on this including during any period of Industrial Action. Border Force maintain 100% checks for all scheduled arriving passengers into the UK and this will be continued during any periods of strike action. Military personnel deployed to cover Border Force staff underwent thorough training before being deployed during strike action; however maintain border security we do not comment on the details of operational deployments.