28 May 2024 , 10:34
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to resurrect a form of the national service scheme if the Conservatives win the general election - and we want to hear YOUR thoughts.
Under the Tories’ controversial new plan, it will be mandatory for 18-year-olds to take part in either military training or community volunteering. While the details of the scheme have not been finalised, the PM believes the move will reignite the "national spirit" that emerged during the pandemic.
It comes as a desperate pitch to older voters as the Tory leader struggles to turn around his party's gloomy prospects ahead of the general election on July 4. Around 30,000 teenagers would be able to take up places in the military for 12-months, where they will "learn and take part in logistics, cyber security, procurement or civil response operations".
This is not considered to be conscription, as the teens will be able to pick the 'volunteer' option, which will be equivalent to one weekend per month - 25 days per year - in their community. According to the briefing, this could include organisations such as the fire service, police, the NHS, and charities working with older people to tackle loneliness.
They could also help out at the British Red Cross, the RNLI search and rescue charity, and at St John's Ambulance. Most teenagers will end up in the volunteering side of the scheme - which they will not be paid for - while those who do the military element will be. Speaking at a campaign event in Buckinghamshire, Mr Sunak said: "This modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and the opportunities that they need, which is going to serve them very well in life.
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"It is going to foster a culture of service which is going to be incredibly powerful for making our society more cohesive, and in a more uncertain and dangerous world it's going to strengthen our country's security and resilience."
In a separate TikTok video, he added: "As is the case in other countries, we will provide a stipend to help with living costs for those doing the military element alongside their training. Meanwhile, on the civic side, we will make sure organisations have funding for training and administration."
If the Tories win the upcoming election, the government would establish a Royal Commission to design the programme. The party said the first national service pilots would be open for application in September 2025 - before a National Service Act is introduced.
The proposed legislation would make it mandatory that every 18-year-old will be "required to do national service by the end of the next Parliament" - in five years' time. Home Secretary James Cleverly told Sky News that 18-year-olds would not be jailed for refusing national service.
He said: "No, there's going to be no criminal sanction. There's no one going to jail over this." Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman James Daly told the BBC there would "be some form of sanction" for those not taking part in the mandatory scheme.
Responding to the announcement, a Labour spokesman said: "This is another desperate £2.5 billion unfunded commitment from a Tory Party which already crashed the economy, sending mortgages rocketing, and now they’re spoiling for more. This is not a plan – it’s a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories hollowed out the Armed Forces to their smallest size since Napoleon."
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: "The desperation of this National Service policy - a teenage Dad’s Army - paid for by cancelling levelling-up funding and money from tax avoidance that we would use to invest in our NHS. All elections are a choice and this is a clear one: levelling up and the NHS with Labour. Or more desperate chaos with the Tories. That is the choice."
Following the latest update, we want to know if YOU support the national service. Vote in our poll HERE to have your say.
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