Government in trouble? Call on MACA!

 No, not Paul McCartney, though he would assuredly make a better fist of running a Department Of State than some present - and recent - incumbents. MACA stands for Military Aid to Civilian Authority, effectively "calling in the Army". 

In August of last year, the Evening Post published an article by Richard Ault in which he highlighted the increased use of the Armed Forces to supplement the public services. 

The UK’s armed forces are being asked to support the government “more and more often” to “relieve exceptional pressures” on public services. Armed forces personnel can be deployed in the UK when asked to do so by government departments or the relevant civil authorities, and signed off by a minister. This could be to assist with flood relief, terror attacks, or to support major national events such as the Commonwealth Games. Currently, around 1,000 armed forces personnel are deployed to work alongside West Midlands Police at the Games in Birmingham.

The specialist skills of the military may also be required, for example bomb disposal, removing dangerous chemicals, or using reconnaissance aircraft to locate missing people. Requests for help - called “military aid to the civil authorities” (MACA) - peaked during the pandemic in 2020, when around 34,000 military personnel were deployed around the country to help with a variety of tasks, including to support the roll-out of mobile testing centres.

But MACA requests have remained high, even as the need for help with the UK’s pandemic response has eased. Figures provided by the Ministry of Defence show that the armed forces received 332 MACA requests in 2021, down by 40% from the 550 requests received the previous year - but more than double the 157 MACA requests received before the pandemic in 2019.

Since that (Reach syndicated) article appeared, MACA requests have continued, most controversially in respect of ambulance workers. Just before Christmas, it was revealed that troops on MACA duty because of industrial action would receive £20 per day on top of their normal pay. 

Civil emergencies caused by natural events or hostile action clearly justify MACA, but strike-breaking? Surely not, at a time when our armed forces are below strength anyway.