British Army May Have to Enforce Lockdown, Says Met Police Federation Chairman

TOPSHOT - British Army soldiers are led by a police officer into Buckingham Palace in cent
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Kurt Zindulka

The chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation warned that police in London will struggle to enforce Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lockdown measures, saying that the military may need to be called in if more police officers continue to contract the Chinese coronavirus.

Ken Marsh, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said that it will be “very difficult” to enforce the coronavirus lockdown measures as there is already “large amounts of sickness” within London’s police force.

“The Army are already in place on the outskirts of London and across the country. And I don’t doubt for one minute that they will be called if needed. It could be ­tailored in quite quickly and everything is on the table,” Marsh said per the Evening Standard.

The Metropolitan Police Federation said that as of Monday some 2,100 are currently are off duty as a result of coronavirus, either because they have become infected or are under self-isolation as a precaution, representing 15 per cent of London’s police force.

Mr Marsh said that one of the biggest challenges the police force will face is trying to control millions of London’s residents during the lockdown, pleading for people to adhere to the strict measures to ease the strain on police.

“It is going to be very, very challenging, very difficult for us to force people stopping behaving in a way they are at the moment. We as the police will do our utmost to ensure we deliver this because this is for the protection of the public,” Mr Marsh told ITV.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all UK citizens to remain in their homes, aside from essential trips to buy food, go to the hospital, or travel to work if necessary. The measures also ban public gatherings of more than two people, except for families that live in the same home.

“If you don’t follow the rules, the police will have the powers to enforce them, including fines and dispersing gatherings,” the prime minister warned.

The British Armed Forces have already been drafted by the government to deliver supplies to hospitals and supermarkets amidst shortages of food and medical supplies.

The military has started “around the clock” deliveries of personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, glasses, protective suits, and other medical supplies to National Health Service (NHS) hospitals.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK rose to 6,710 on Tuesday, according to The Sun. In just 24 hours 54 people lost their lives to the virus, bringing the total death toll to 336 since the start of the outbreak.

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka

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