The reaction to National Service on here

Just hope they don’t volunteer for Healthwatch. Massive flipping eye roll at that huge waste of public money. Always begging for volunteers. Parasite of the quango world that nobody’s even heard of 😂

They have, but Russia invading neighbours is a regular occurrence. It was happening well before Putin, and the 2022 Ukraine invasion wasnt even his first. The geographical location makes all the difference.

I absolutely agree with you. Well said. The pathetic whining on here the last days has been quite enlightening. No wonder a lot of young people are fragile, selfish, entitled and lazy. Their parents encourage them to be so.

Yes I agree with you there. And 16-18 education needs to meet needs for sure. It's just inadequate right now and nobody is picking up on the kids slipping through the net.

Thing is, even if you think it would be a good idea for all 18 year olds to volunteer, that in itself doesn't automatically create useful or viable opportunities for them to do so. OP has missed this too. It's actually a pretty huge undertaking.

They've been doing NS in the Scandi countries for years before Putin invaded Ukraine though. I remember a couple of Norwegian work colleagues telling me about it ~25 years ago.

I doubt that this scheme will ever be implemented, but I don't think it's a bad idea to introduce the late teen/early 20s age group to the notion of having to do something you don't like rather than something you like for at least some of the time, as a gentle acclimatisation to the world of work. Especially since they may have half a century of work ahead of them.

I think it is a blatant gimmick to fluff the unemployment numbers. First they moved 16 & 17yo off the unemployment figures by making education mandatory until 18, now they are moving the 18 yo off the list by moving them onto national service.

It’s a stupid idea. It’s a load of old cobblers to appeal to voters who are deflecting to Reform.

If litter needs picking up, pay someone to do it, or those people who’ve been sentenced to unpaid work by the courts can get out and do it. No one in the NHS needs an 18yo, who is there reluctantly, under their feet.

WRT military it won’t work. They’re there for a year. The training takes longer, or almost as long as that for most roles, so they won’t be useful. There’s no where to house them, either. Forces personnel don’t want it. DS1 has said he will leave if, and it’s a huge if, it comes in. He’s not the only one either.

I’m so sick of people giving teenagers a bad rap. They’re doing their best, fgs. Just leave them be and let them choose their own paths. I hope it brings young people out to vote in droves.

I think they just don't realise it's not National Service in the traditional sense of a period in the armed forces.

I'd be happy for mine to do a period of charity/voluntary work but if they wanted him for a year in the military they could fuck right off.

It's a good idea to encourage kids to be charitable and give of themselves for others but do I think that's why Rishi suggested it? No. I just think he's desperately pandering to a stereotype he hopes to get the vote from.

It will never happen, whoever gets in.
reason being that it has not been thought through properly.
Compulsory volunteering sounds ok, but in practise the ones who dont want to do it, would be unwilling participants, which is not something ideal in any kind of 'volunteering' work.
So what woud be the punishment if they turn up, but dont really do anything much!

I am not sure. In theory it's quite good idea, for those teens who are not in education or working but in practice it would need to have exceptions IMO.

Eg My 18 yo has recently finished college but is a musician performing up to 6 times a week, mostly weekends, on top of that he works over 40 hrs a week in what is supposed to be a part time job. He is working hard at building a career and cannot afford to not work weekends as this would affect his future bookings.

DS2 is just finishing GCSEs, he has an apprenticeship he is starting a few days after his exam finish, he will be in full time work from the age of 16, public sector role. He has also had a part time job from when he had just turned 15.

Whilst I do think NS is a good idea for so many it feels like there is an assumption that 18 yos have no focus/plans. In my experience a lot don't TBH but there are those who do and they shouldn't have to sacrifice their careers for it unless there is a guarantee it won't cause an issue.

I agree with much of your post - Yr 10 work experience is a nightmare to organise and even if it's 4 days (in DD3's case) the red tape and faff for 100 kids - never mind millions - it just crap.!

I also, sort of, agree with your point on the raising participation age regulations, but there need to be far more options for part time learning to accommodate those why simply can't (for many reasons including being parents, mental health issues, criminal activity, CSE, homelessness, being in care) be in education even 3 days a week. Our local authority finally started offering maths and English functional skills part time for 16-18 year olds and it's been a real win in terms of re-engaging young people.

I do wish everyone (not you!) would stop thinking of teens as 'perfect DoE candidate young people' or 'yob NEETS scum' and start realising that, as with all humans, our teens are complex beings with a wide range of challenges - it's not a case of 'make them pick up litter' - we are failing them on such a mass scale it's scandalous.

I didn't have any strong emotional reaction for the simple fact it just isn't going to happen.

I'd have no objection to creating a framework to make it really easy for young people to find volunteering opportunities as I'm sure many would like to take those up, but demanding everyone do it, especially with the undertone that they are too lazy and pampered to do it otherwise, is just insulting.

I haven't rtft so apologies if I'm repeating a point but we can barely get the disengaged youngsters into school. Organising year 10 work experience is a nightmare and then kids just don't bother with it.

Who is going to organise these kids into this and how are they going to enforce it?

Currently children are supposed to be in education or training until they are 18 but nobody enforces that. Surely that would be a better place to start? LAs aren't even obliged to provide education post 16 if a child can't make it to school or college.

Let's fix the things that are broken first before finding solutions to problems that don't exist. Based on what happens now, the kids it's really aimed at will be the ones that don't do it.

Really poor idea. Most 17/ 18 yr old I know are polite., hard working and juggling study and part.time work to fund uni, plus possibly a hobbies. My dad who.was actually one of the last to do national service thinks it's madness. He was paid, had housing and medical care and transport throughout something missing from these plans. Volunteering is hard to find dd looked for her d of e to find some and failed. I work in the NHS any volunteers will need crb checks, to have basic traing in resuscitation and dementia and that's just to act as a guide , use them for anything more and thay would need a lot of training and time not really viable for 28 days, I would think most volunteers roles with vulnerable adults/ kids would be the same. I bet some tory donner is planning to sell the traing schemes! Then there is loss of income , student loans are so poor kids need to work to fund this, why should this be limited for them and knowone else. How many on here would give up a day's work for 28 weeks to do this. Also whose paying there expenses to get to the role?

She seems to keep missing the posts asking that!

Hah! Not all the stealing has been done as blatently as Michelle Mone (who I doubt will see the inside of a prison), most of it is the stealth privatisation which redirects wealth from the front line to lining the pocket of a shareholder. On paper the funding looks the same but it's not, and it's happened across huge swaithes of the public sector.

As I said before volunteer yourselves to all who think it's a bloody good idea. Get the filth under your own bloody fingernails.

Those that would be offered jobs probably already have a career path to follow and are only doing this sort of thing because they have to.

Me thinks someone wants to cut down their salary bill and get rid of the pensioners doing the job for minimum wage and have a never ending supply of free labour

It's interesting as Sweden abolished National Service in 2010 but brought it back 2018

What is truly interesting is that Rishi is using the playbook of the current Swedish right wing government (Conservative/anti-immigrant nationalist led coalition) almost to the letter

• A few weeks ago Rishi/Ministers make comments about the coming of war to Europe (mirrors 11 Jan 2024 Sweden's Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin saying Swede must prepare for War - )
• Last week later the Sunak government is putting out advice on people putting together a prepare for war kit (In Sweden 31 Jan 2024 the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency puts out lists of prepare for war kits sending half the population out for batteri emergency radios and bottled water - a boon for Clas Ohlson)
• Sunday - Sunak announces National service (Swedish defence Minister announces it is compulsory for all Swedes who have turned 18 to give their details to the Military for Military service purposes and all Sweden aged 18-70 can be called up for compulsory National service within the military or civil defence)

god what a brain drain all this arguing is.

Bollocks

I doubt they do ,i work in a supermarket and cant being doing with all the weekend uni students ringing in sick at least once a month, being on their phone during work hours seeing to one light and some how not seeing the other 8 flashing lights , ingnoring customers refusing to do this that and the other despite being part of the job and needing to go to the loo every 30mins probably to go check their phone as we have told them no phones on shop floor and them doing bat all whilst i run about like headless chicken, however that is most likely to do do with working for a shite company with no managment structure at all and i sometimes think they should bring in someone from a armed forces back ground to sort the place out

So all the kids that 'need a kick up the arse' - do we think they will be offering themselves up to this scheme? I can't see that happening, especially when they've clearly said it won't be compulsory.

Almost as if the tories are just trying to push a further wedge between the rich and the poor

Maybe after all this patriotism Rishi could think of something to actually tangibly bolster the young - like maybe give them half a chance getting a mortgage before the age of 40

@MaryMaryVeryContrary how much volunteering do you do?