The reaction to National Service on here

I’d rather pay plenty of tax and have people well paid for doing a professional service than a wheezing underfunded state propped up by volunteers & conscripts.

Should it not just be across the board then.

From 1st of January 2026, to allow everyone a calendar year's grace to get up to speed, nobody can receive any state benefits including child benefit and pension or avail of any rebates etc (with the exception of essential health care from the nhs) without having completed the required national service.

Anyone who served in the military will be exempt if they can prove they received no remuneration for their service or repay the equivalent of the NS days required pro rata.

State approved doctors will also be able to b provide exemptions for those unable to complete their national service.

Anyone turning 18 after the start date has a year to complete their NS while still entitled to claim any relevant government assistance.

Otherwise what's the point in only imputing the 18 year old sense of community and having them give something back, the people in their 40s and 50s have more power to affect change and so society will benefit most from them having the opportunity to give back to their country

My two cents from the time when I really wanted to get into volunteering in my early 20s is that it would be better to spend the money to provide and facilitate better opportunities for those who want to do it.

In my experience it was crap, I didn't live in the sticks yet there didn't seem to be much to do especially at weekends. There was little in the way of mentoring or shadowing, you'd just be put in situations where you didn't have a clue what to do and felt like you were doing more harm than good.

If these things were decently run more people would come forward to volunteer.

Rishi is trying to lose, isn’t he? California here he comes.

And more happily, it has persuaded my elderly parents not to vote Conservative for the first time ever, and loads of my kids’ friends to vote in the first place. Win win.

Absolutely, but you just know that wouldn’t happen.

The vouchers would be valid for 6 months, come with a code that doesn’t always work (just thinking back to how difficult it was for schools to access the ‘free’ laptops during lockdown) and you would only be able to redeem them at ‘Michelle Mone’s daylight robbery’ stores.

It’s a “dead cat” thrown on the table to distract from the REAL issues at this election.

It has, however, guaranteed I won’t be voting for Rishi or his henchpeople.

I would be happier with this idea if it were more carrot than stick based. Eg volunteers (true volunteers) got credits for money off university expenses - eg money directly paid toward accommodation or vouchers off supermarket shops. Same with those in work at 18, to give them money off living expenses. And definitely real flexibility about where or when it took place.

It’s a stupid plan set up by millionaires who have no idea how the real world live. They don’t care people would have to give up paid employment to work weekends for free as not being able to buy food that week would never enter their privileged radar. Having to fund travel to this unpaid work while already missing out on wages wouldn’t cause financial hardship to them .

Exactly!

Not all of them.

I think most people haven't actually read the proposed plans, which is nothing like the 'conscription' they keep bleating about.

Still hate the tories though.

@MaryMaryVeryContrary as you are clearly not doing 2 full days voluntary work a month, perhaps you would like to reflect on why not? And what you think gives you the right to justify opting out yourself, while being prepared to impose it on others.

I'm delighted it is causing such a backlash against Sunak but I can't get worked up about it as it will never be implemented as the Tories are heading for a crushing defeat.

My view is that you either do it properly by employing these young people in public service (and paying them) or you don't bother. Giving up weekends to do random stuff is just a massive gimmick and designed solely to appeal to the older voter base who are wavering by pandering to their latent prejudice about young people.

It’s 6 very visible weeks where MPs are going to be grilled on telly and by their constituents on doorsteps all day every day. It provides a distraction from the dreadful reality of the last 14 years.

Can’t think of a more ludicrous and unpopular policy to come up with at current??

Yet, whilst everyone is so incensed by it and discussing all the very valid reasons why it won’t work, they are NOT asking the government about the fact that state schools are crumbling and our kids are being taught by TAs, the health service is on its knees, nobody can get the ‘free’ dental care or childcare they are entitled to, their mortgage and energy bills have gone through the roof and the seas are full of shite.

Which is probably pretty handy for the Conservatives!

Well to play devil's advocate, Swedish youngsters do have the right to get on the list for a council flat from the time they're 18. Wait times in certain Stockholm districts are around two decades and then they'll give you a one-room flat. Make of that what you will.

It's an academic question anyhow. In all of the national cases discussed, national service is primarily military service, with alternative civilian duties for those who decline that. As soon as the ratio becomes, say, 95 percent civilian to 5 percent military service it becomes a form of forced labour outlawed under international human rights conventions- not just the ECHR do vilified by the Tories, but also the ILO. And good luck with that.

No, you're being silly thinking that because some European countries already do it that means it could work here where the fundamentals are different. As has already been pointed out, all of them have at least one of a close neighbour who likes invading people or a much better welfare state than ours. We have neither of those. The threat and the skin in the game are what's actually important here.

None of the people who think there'd be benefits, you very much included, have been able to explain how these would be accrued in practical terms. It's just ooh. this would be nice.

Those of us with actual experience in the voluntary sector have explained that this is not a proposal that's likely to actually help. Volunteers take training and supervision even when they actually want to be there, and a day a month just isn't that much unless perhaps you were doing something very highly specialised. I'm a trustee, and that's about the commitment, but the reason it works is due to professional skills already acquired.

It's incredible, really. You obviously understand how bad the Tories have been. But a few people pissed you off in their responses, so you switched off any critical faculties you might have and swallowed it all whole.

I do agree that the response of a lot of people "why should my kid have to give up her weekends" is basically a selfish entitlement.

Can you explain specifically what is “selfish” or “entitled” about not wanting to take unpaid leave from the job that you do to pay your rent and bills to do unpaid work? Both wrt students who overwhelmingly work weekends and for whom this accounts for 25% of earnings, and full time workers, such as those in the NHS, who are contractually obliged to do weekend working?

Can you explain specifically what is “selfish” or “entitled” about wanting to spend the period of your life between school and full time adult responsibilities travelling or volunteering abroad like previous generations have been able to do?

Can you explain specifically what is “selfish” or “entitled” about not wanting to flit between your home and university towns, paying £££ your own transport, to do compulsory litter picking or a couple of shifts in a charity shop when you should be working in up your paid job, studying, socialising. (I know people think 18yo socialising is appalling and would never do such a thing themselves)

Can you explain specifically what is “selfish” or “entitled” about not wanting to give up the volunteering you already do with your hobby or club to do different volunteering in an unrelated sector?

Can you explain specifically what is “selfish” or “entitled” about not wanting to give up your sports training, especially those who do team sports and those at elite level and those who will miss competitions.

Can you explain specifically what is “selfish” or “entitled” about Monday-Friday workers not wanting to do 12 shifts on the trot every month?

Can you explain specifically what is “selfish” or “entitled” about an employer in retail, care, beauty, hospitality etc. who does most of their business at weekends, wanting their staff to be actually available. DH is an employer in hospitality. Our pt staff only work weekends. Will he be employing 17/18yo if this comes in? Will he fuck.

Why doesn’t every adult in the whole country give up a weekend every month? No getting off the hook if you work, have a baby, study, want to go on holiday, have got festival tickets, already volunteer in a different area. No excuses, you entitled fucks, I don’t care if you do scouts already and do your mums shopping every Saturday after working all week and you don’t have anyone to walk your dog while you wash a fire engine for 8 hours, It’s selfish and entitled not to want to. I don’t care if you are a nurse and you always work Saturdays for your childcare. Stop being so selfish and entitled!

The reason I oppose it OP is because I don't trust this wouldn't become conscription. I don't support the recent wars our government has been meddling in and provoking and therefore would not want my son used as cannon fodder. You can guarantee it won't be Rishi Subak or Keir Starmer's children who are packed off to the front line.

This.

The up in arms people probably hate Thatcher, yet are living embodiments of there being no such thing as society. 🤷‍♀️

Why should it be restricted to 18 year olds? If it's genuinely something that benefits both society and individuals, then maybe it should be like jury service and everyone should be called up for national service at some time. Make exemptions for people who are already in essential public sector jobs. People with caring responsibilities can defer, and there would be medical exemptions where necessary.

I don't think it's ok to place a burden on an 18 year old that I wouldn't be prepared to carry myself.

Years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that unqualified people would be teaching children in schools. I wouldn’t have thought that people who are not doctors would be carrying out some of the work of doctors. In both cases while being paid far less than those qualified to do the work. But they are.

Your example is an extreme one, but I don’t think it’s being too cynical to have concerns about this.