BRITAIN: Britain's s threatened eight-day fire strike remained on last night as the chief of the defence staff warned that a protracted dispute could seriously undermine the country's military effectiveness.
Sir Michael Boyce issued his warning as the Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon, confirmed the United States has formally requested British military help in its contingency planning for any possible war with Iraq.
Sir Michael's extreme concern at the impact of having 19,000 troops on standby for emergency firefighting left 10 Downing Street on the defensive last night as the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, again insisted there was no more money to help resolve the increasingly bitter dispute with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).
The first of three planned eight-day strikes is due to begin tomorrow night.
Local authority officials and leaders of the FBU held separate meetings yesterday but, with no new pay offer yet on the table, the two sides did not meet. Talks will resume this morning.
Facing MPs in the House of Commons, Mr Blair played down suggestions that British forces were being overstretched.
Stressing that Sir Michael had said the armed forces would be able to respond to any military commitment required by the government, Mr Blair said the Chief of the Defence Staff had been making the "perfectly obvious" point that troops on standby for firefighting duties in the event of another strike could not be engaged in other duties.
However, with troops having been engaged in training for firefighting duties since the summer, Sir Michael explicitly said this meant they were not able to engage in military training for some future eventuality.
Sir Michael told reporters and a plainly embarrassed Mr Hoon: "We are trying to husband our operational capabilities, but clearly we cannot perform to the full extent of our operating capability while we have 19,000 people standing by to do firefighting duties."
The government last night confirmed that soldiers would not now be required to cross picket lines to commandeer fire engines lying idle on strike days. That task will fall to the police.