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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