The military has been asked to provide up to 3,500 extra troops to guard the London Olympics, amid concerns that private security firm G4S will be unable to deliver the number of staff it promised.
Ministers have been forced into the last-ditch move only a fortnight
before the Games because they are concerned that G4S cannot guarantee it
will be able to supply the 13,700 guards it was contracted to deliver.
One Whitehall insider accused the Home Office of “sticking its head
in the sand” over the need to deploy extra military personnel.
“This has been an accident waiting to happen. The Home Office has
waited to make a decision on this because G4S has been saying it is all
in hand. But we’ve run out of time.”
The home secretary, Theresa May, has been pressing G4S to provide
assurances over its commitments, but patience in Whitehall ran out last
weekend and talks began over whether the Ministry of Defence could fill the gap.
“The army will provide an insurance policy,” said a Whitehall source.
The armed forces are already providing up to 13,500 personnel for the
Games – split between the venues and back-up for police. Under the
contingency plans, this could reach 16,500 – 7,000 more than are being
deployed in Afghanistan.
The MoD has been seeking guarantees that any soldiers drafted in at
the last moment will be properly compensated for cancelled leave.
A defence source said that the army units that may be required had
been identified and put at a state of shortened readiness. They will be
deployed incrementally, as needed, and logistical and training hubs were
already being set up to co-ordinate them.
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