UK sending 1,200 troops to fill in as ambulance crews strike

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British government says it will dispatch 1,200 troops to fill in for striking ambulance drivers and border staff as multiple public sector unions walk off the job in the week before Christmas. Ambulance crews are due to strike on Wednesday, joining nurses, railway staff, passport officers and postal workers, who are all staging a series of walkouts in the coming weeks. The U.K.’s most intense strike wave for decades is a response to a cost-of-living crisis driven by soaring food and energy prices. Unions are seeking pay increases to keep pace with inflation, which was running at 10.7% in November. The Conservative government argues that double-digit raises would drive inflation even higher.