29 May 2024 , 05:00
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Premier League wonderkids could be forced to take part in National Service according to the Tories’ radical plan.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled plans to re-introduce National Service should they win the upcoming General Election in July. It would see 18-year-olds take part in a full year of military training, or alternatively complete 25 days of community volunteering.
Should the plan go through, it would be the first time that National Service has been served since the 1960s. The Tories have yet to announce who would be exempt, but it has been confirmed that young Premier League stars would have to take part.
A Labour attack dossier enquired: “ Jude Bellingham, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw have all been part of a senior England squad at an international competition when aged 18.
“Would they have been required to complete their one weekend of National Service during those tournaments?” Labour MP John Ashworth added: “Would they be taken out of playing during the inevitable shootout in the semi-finals?”
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The Conservatives have fired back at those claims but confirmed that those earning a high wage at 18 would be eligible for national service. A source quoted by The Sun said: “Of course extremely highly paid 18 year olds will be required to do their national service.
“The 25 days can be completed at any point in the year and if Jon Ashworth could be bothered to engage in policy detail he would know that.”
18-year-old Premier League stars would not be exempt from National Service (Getty Images)What is your take on the Tories' National Service plan? Share your thoughts in the comments below
As it stands, every English star in the top-flight would be eligible for national service should they fall into the correct age range. While all 18-year-old academy starlets would be eligible, Mirror Football takes a look at those to have already made a Premier League appearance for their respective first teams:
Lewis Miley (Newcastle), Mikey Moore (Tottenham), Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal), Josh Acheampong (Chelsea), Jayden Danns (Liverpool), Leon Chiwome (Wolves), Ethan Wheatley (Manchester United), Omari Kellyman (Aston Villa)
Premier League winner Rico Lewis would have been eligible but falls just outside of the age range, whilst Kobbie Mainoo would also find himself in the same boat.
Ashworth is not the only one of a Labour persuasion to have criticised the plans. Sir Keir Starmer was a public critic in a speech on Monday. The Labour leader said: "All this spinning round and round, it's symbolic of the chaos and the instability.
"You've seen that again over the past few days, the desperation of this national service policy, a sort of teenage Dad's Army, paid for, I kid you not, by cancelling levelling up funding and money from tax avoidance that we would use to invest in our NHS.
"I think they are rummaging around in the toy box to try and find any plan that they can throw on the table. I don't think it'll work."
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