Sunak's plan to make 18-year-olds do national service grabs attention on UK election trail

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

LONDON (AP) — All 18-year-olds in Britain will have to perform a year of mandatory military or civilian national service if the governing Conservative Party wins the July 4 national election, the party said Sunday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to bring back a form of national service for the first time in more than 60 years, seeking to energize his election campaign after a faltering start.

The U.K. introduced military conscription for men and some women during World War II, and imposed 18 months of mandatory military service for men between 1947 and 1960. Since then Britain has had an all-volunteer military whose size has steadily shrunk.

Under the plan, a small minority of 18-year-olds — 30,000 out of an estimated 700,000 — would spend 12 months in the military, working in areas such as logistics or cyber defense. The rest would spend one weekend a month working for charities, community groups, or organizations such as hospitals, the police and the fire service.

https://apnews.com/article/uk-election-national-service-rishi-sunak-fdaf7e38793434e4f060c11735fef71e

[RandySF]

1. I'm not British but it doesn't sound like a winning issue to me.

[ColinC]

2. While I personally would probably support a plan like that(I am generally a supporter of compulsory service and voting),

I don’t see it as a likely aid to saving the Tories. In fact, it seems like something that is likely to hurt them in the next election.

[orange jar]

3. From what I hear from British corners,

Sunak is already deeply unpopular — even among Tory voters. I'm sure this doesn't help. Oh well.

[GiqueCee]

4. In typical conservative fashion...

... Sunak said, YOU WILL DO THIS! instead of initiating a program that inspired 18 year-olds to WANT to do this. Those stupid fuckers never learn. And that goes double for conservatives on this side of The Pond.

[vanlassie]

5. Fourteen Years.

Fourteen years those Eton Elites have been in power. “It’s Enough Already.”
(My British ex-Pat daughter has that on a shirt she made.).