IT’S WAR! The British Army to put 20,000 troops on the streets of Britain in the Battle against the Coronavirus

THE BRITSH ARMY IS ASSEMBLING A TASK FORCE CONSISTING OF OVER 20,000 PERSONEL TO ASSIST IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN THE UK.

Alongside the 10,000 military personnel who are always held at ‘higher readiness’ in the event of a civil emergency, an additional 10,000 will be called upon to aid the fight against Britain’s coronavirus pandemic.

The army is up gearing to deploy on British streets for up to six months to help in the coronavirus crisis.

A note issued by the head of the Armed Forces, General Sir Nicholas Carter, called on the military to step up its preparations to come to the country’s aid.

In the message, sent to senior officers General Carter said troops must be ready to help civilian emergency services, including by setting up ‘temporary hospitals’.

He wrote: ‘The indications are that this disease will spike around late May and early June.

Thousands of troops are being flown home from overseas to help the NHS, police and other key areas. Should Britain go into lockdown, military personnel are expected to assist police in helping secure the streets. Military medics, including doctors and nurses, will also be deployed to help in hospitals.

The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of British Armed Forces. As of 2019, the British Army comprises just over 79,300 trained regular (full-time) personnel and just over 27,200 trained reserve (part-time) personnel.

An increase in the number of people being laid off is not only stressful for many families but can also lead to a growth in criminal activity, according to a recent study, the first one to link the two phenomena.

Could the lockdown in the UK lead to more crime on the streets?

Trying to understand the link between job losses and criminal activity, Vortuba said a key element was the drastic effect that layoffs have on daily schedules. The rate of crime, both violent and drug and alcohol-related, were much higher during the week than on the weekend, the study showed.

A laid-off worker has incentives to shift the use of time toward illicit earnings opportunities since displacements reduce legal earnings opportunities. At the same time, dismissals lessen the opportunity cost of a worker’s time during the period of unemployment.

“The old adage that idle hands are the devil’s workshop appears to have some truth to it,” said Votruba. “This unfortunate link (to weekday crimes) highlights the importance of psychological factors–such as mental distress, self-control, financial concerns and frustration–in determining counterproductive behavior.”

The findings were obtained by looking at data from over one million laid-off Norwegian workers, 84.000 of which experienced an involuntary job loss. The study found a 60% increase in property crime charges in the year after a downsizing and an overall 20% increase in criminal-charge rates in the year after a layoff.