British Army to deploy throughout U.K. as government plans for 'no deal' Brexit

British Army reservists will be deployed throughout the United Kingdom as the British government prepares to leave the European Union with 'no deal' at the end of March.
A British soldier stands guard for the last time at Fort Whiterock Army Base in West Belfast in 1999 as bulldozers moved in to dismantle the remains of the 20 year-old base which had been home to more than 7,500 troops and witnessed some of the worst of the Troubles. (Photo: Pacemaker)A British soldier stands guard for the last time at Fort Whiterock Army Base in West Belfast in 1999 as bulldozers moved in to dismantle the remains of the 20 year-old base which had been home to more than 7,500 troops and witnessed some of the worst of the Troubles. (Photo: Pacemaker)
A British soldier stands guard for the last time at Fort Whiterock Army Base in West Belfast in 1999 as bulldozers moved in to dismantle the remains of the 20 year-old base which had been home to more than 7,500 troops and witnessed some of the worst of the Troubles. (Photo: Pacemaker)

Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Mark Lancaster M.P., made the announcement in a statement to parliament on Thursday.

“A new order has been made under section 56(1B) of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to enable reservists to be called into permanent service in support of the [government’s] contingency planning for a no-deal EU exit scenario.

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“Defence is committed to assisting the cabinet office coordinated work programme to ensure that there are effective and proportionate contingency plans in place to mitigate the potential immediate impacts leaving the EU, under a no-deal scenario, might have on the welfare, health and security of UK citizens and economic stability of the UK.”

A British soldier stands guard for the last time at Fort Whiterock Army Base in West Belfast in 1999 as bulldozers moved in to dismantle the remains of the 20 year-old base which had been home to more than 7,500 troops and witnessed some of the worst of the Troubles. (Photo: Pacemaker)A British soldier stands guard for the last time at Fort Whiterock Army Base in West Belfast in 1999 as bulldozers moved in to dismantle the remains of the 20 year-old base which had been home to more than 7,500 troops and witnessed some of the worst of the Troubles. (Photo: Pacemaker)
A British soldier stands guard for the last time at Fort Whiterock Army Base in West Belfast in 1999 as bulldozers moved in to dismantle the remains of the 20 year-old base which had been home to more than 7,500 troops and witnessed some of the worst of the Troubles. (Photo: Pacemaker)

It is not yet known how many troops will be deployed to Northern Ireland.

It is expected that the troops will be deployed for one year beginning on February 10, 2019.

M.P.s critical of how Theresa May and her government have handled Brexit negotiations said that the decision to involve the military was a clear sign of just how serious a 'no deal' scenario will be.

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“It is staggering that soldiers are being put on standby because of the risk of a constitutional crisis of the government’s own making. A no-deal scenario should be ruled out immediately by the prime minister, to avoid this chaos. There is absolutely no parliamentary support for this," said Labour M.P. Ian Murray.