Should the government bring back National service for 18 year olds?

[Rich-Allen1976]

Do the Poll and discuss.

I personally think this plan is unworkable, for instance, not all 18 year olds are mentally or physically capable of joining the Army.
 

[Teeny]

I read that there are two routes people can take if National Service becomes a thing, either military service or community volunteering, so nobody is forced to join the army and I'd say the vast majority of people wouldn't do military service at all. Community volunteering may be a good way to boost young peoples employment chances though.
I'm not really sure on my overall thoughts, it's mixed. But yes completely agree with you that not everyone is suitable to do the military, and in some cases possibly not community volunteering either.

[lloydiboy]

Broadly I support the idea.

To say that the idea is unworkable flies in the face of the evidence that many other countries already have this in place, including most of the Scandinavian countries.

As Teeny mentioned, the current proposal is that military service is not the only option, and community working within the NHS or Fire services are possible. The military service would also not necessarily include the basic training.

I also cannot see how this can work if there wasn't a series of exemptions. Fitness to work and certain disabilities would likely exempt a good proportion of those for whom compulsory military service is not appropriate for anyway. I know that the current government may seem completely incompetent, but they are not so incompetent to not consider those cases.

That being said, I don't believe that it will be in place in the timescales discussed (summer 2025 I think I read somewhere), and it's also an election pledge aimed to mobilise a certain demographic to vote. It's a moot point as I don't see the Tories back in power come July so like many other of Rishi's plans it will likely never see the light of day now.

[Rich-Allen1976]

The Tories have almost no chance of retaining their seats next month IMO, after 14 years even the kind of people who'd literally vote for a 1 legged Sheep that's gone lame if it wore a Tory coat have had enough of that lot.

[Rich-Allen1976]

More to the point, I've lived with and met a myriad of disabled people over the years who wouldn't even be able to do Community volunteer work unless it was tailored to their physical and/or mental needs.