Met Commissioner ‘worried’ about NHS strikes

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A former soldier has praised the “amazing” British Army after strikes chaos failed to erupt at Heathrow Airport. Up to 1,000 members of the PCS union walked out today (December 23) at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow and Manchester.

Charlie Reeves, who served in the Mercian Regiment for six years, told Express.co.uk his experience at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 was possibly the best he had ever had.

Mr Reeves, 46, from Cambridge, flew back to Britain from Senegal to be with his family for Christmas.

He said: “I was really nervous about having to queue for ages, but whizzed through. It was amazing. I was really impressed.

“I went through the e-gates, but saw the Army. Every desk was manned with a soldier on it. Border Force was standing a metre back every two to three cubicles. There were no queues.”

He added: “It was better than previously. I went on holiday with the family in the summer and it was terrible. This has the potential to be one of the best trips back, but I don’t want to tempt fate.”

Mr Reeves, who was a captain in his former regiment, added: “I guess [the Army] won’t have had as much training as Border Force, but we know we can always rely on them to do what needs to be done. We know they will always do a good job.”

Lucy Jenkins, 35, flew back from a holiday in Antigua with her two children.

She told Express.co.uk Virgin offered the family a change of flight free of charge if they wanted, but they didn’t take them up on the offer because they wanted to spend Christmas in the UK.

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Lucy said: “We used the family queue and walked straight to the desk. We didn’t even queue for a minute. Every single desk was manned, the non-family queue looked like a completely normal to good day at the airport. The e gates were completely normal.

“On landing we had received a message from my mother saying there were rumours of two hour delays, so we were fully braced for a long wait, plus there was another big plane walking to the gates alongside ours.”

She explained how her plane landed at 8.50am, but even with delays getting off the jet the family was at the baggage hall and with their suitcases by 9.35am.

Lucy said: “[It was] a massive relief. Delays with tired young children after a long haul overnight flight was pretty unappealing. We were very grateful to everyone who stepped in today to help get everyone home for Christmas.”

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The Border Force strikes will take place every day for the rest of the year, except December 27.

About 250,000 passengers are due to arrive on flights at affected airports today, including about 10,000 who landed at Heathrow before 7am.

Travellers were warned by Border Force bosses to expect delays amid fears long queues at passport control could lead to people being held on planes, disrupting subsequent departures.

But the use of military personnel trained to check passports appears to be preventing delays.

A Heathrow spokeswoman said: “The morning arrivals peak has started well. Immigration halls are free-flowing at Heathrow with Border Force and the military contingency providing a good service.”

A spokesman for Gatwick told the PA news agency: “Everything is going OK at the moment. There’s plenty of staff. The e-gates are all operating. It’s going well.

“There’s no delays as far as we’re aware, and no queues at the moment. I’m standing in arrivals and passengers are flowing through as normal.”

PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said travellers could face months of disruption unless the Government comes forward with an improved pay offer for Border Force staff.

He told the BBC: “We think the action at the borders is going to be very effective. We hope that the Government will therefore do the right thing and get around the negotiating table and put some money upfront.

“If not, we are raising money. We have a strike fund that means we can sustain this action. Our strike mandate lasts right up until May. We will be supporting this action up to May and we would re-ballot again if we have to.

“I think in January what you will see is a huge escalation of this action in the civil service and across the rest of our economy unless the Government get around the negotiating table.”

Meanwhile, National Highways workers responsible for motorways and major A-roads in London and south east England, also represented by the PCS, are to continue their four-day walkout, which started on Thursday.

Postal workers represented by the Communication Workers Union walked out for their fifth day of December action in a move Royal Mail criticised as “a cynical attempt to hold Christmas to ransom”.

The company said it will be doing all it can to deliver Christmas mail, saying the industrial action has cost it £100 million.

RMT railway workers will stage another strike from 6pm on Christmas Eve, which could prevent people from making it home for Christmas.

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