UK government could bring in military to ease strike action- ruling party chairman

The British government is looking at bringing in the military to help keep public services running if key workers, including in the state-run National Health Service, take strike action, the chairman of the governing Conservative Party said on Sunday.

"Our message to the unions is to say 'this is not a time to strike, this is a time to try and negotiate'. But in the absence of that, it is important for the government... to have contingency plans in place," Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News.

"We're looking at the military, we're looking at a specialist response force... surge capacity," he said, adding that the military could be brought in to drive ambulances.