Its all empty rhetoric to help with Johnson's imagery that we're in the middle of 'a war'. Easy to say, unlikely to be used.
No.
You may be aware some specialist units are well trained in Riot Control and Disruption in Civil Defence capacity and ready to deploy at a moments notice.
"The Ministry of Defence is to double the size of the military’s civil contingency unit to create a 20,000-strong Covid support force, the defence secretary has announced.
An additional 10,000 troops will be added to the 10,000 routinely held at higher readiness in case of a civil emergency, and reservists could also be called up,
Ben Wallace said on Wednesday.
There are fears about the ability of the police and NHS, which are both
already at full stretch, to deal with the scale of the crisis. While the government has been reluctant to highlight such a bleak prospect, the armed forces need to be prepared for the threat of a breakdown in civil order given that troops have been deployed in other countries to enforce lockdowns and prevent looting of shops.
Wallace [Defence Secretary] said measures had been taken to enable the callup of reservists. Capacity has been freed up by the cancellation of training exercises overseas, including in Kenya and Canada, some at the request of host governments, to aid their attempts to prevent the spread of Covid-19. British troops on overseas operations have also had rest and recuperation cancelled.
Maj Gen Charlie Stickland, the assistant chief of the defence staff (operations and commitments), said: “Putting more personnel at a higher state of readiness and having our reserves on standby gives us greater flexibility to support public services as and when they require our assistance."
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...ops-to-join-british-armys-covid-support-force