Rubbish piles up on a residential street in Birmingham, England, Monday, April 7, 2025, amid an ongoing refuse workers' strike in the city.Contrary to some claims circulating on social media, the government has not called soldiers in to clear up Birmingham’s streets.Local bin workers have been on strike since March 11 in a long-running dispute with the city council over their salaries with the city council – and just today rejected a “totally inadequate” pay offer.In the meantime, rubbish has been building up across the city, triggering widespread fears of a public health emergency which has led to an explosion in the local rat population.The government has now decided to call in military personnel – meaning office-based army planners – to help with the crisis.But some on social media have interpreted that to mean soldiers will soon be walking through Birmingham on a clean-up mission.However, as deputy prime minister Angela Rayner clarified this afternoon, this does not mean there will be “boots on