Ready yourself for the Citizen's Army

[ChedderGorgeous]

Is the head of the army being sensationalist to highlight lack of army funding or is the reality of a citizen's army in the UK a step towards a new era of conscription? Both parties would play anything like this down in an election year.

If they really do start with conscription, they need to sign up all the knuckleheads who go on about bringing back national service first. And all the Britain first lot. Including the really old ones. Put their money where their mouths are.

No way do I want my kids being cannon fodder, thank you.

Any one who has left the forces in the last 6 years (bar medical and dismissal) are on the “reservist” list. They would be called up first. The forces don’t want a load of untrained people if they can help it, it’s easier to do an update course.

If conscription (unlikely I would hope) did happen, we’re in the s* and all bets are off on what happens next really.

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat the PP knows NATO exists…she was being facetious!

What an incredibly rude and hostile comment - so she isn’t the one looking like a twat I’m afraid….!

She was making a joke and clearly knew about NATO. her second paragraph is not related to NATO she was making a separate dig about BREXIT.

Finnish citizens have been readied for decades, its nothing new, we've always appreciated the risk from Russia.

Hopefully?!?!?!

I didn't start this war. Why should i die for it? Send the politicians first.

The armed forces need funding, that was the guys point.

Conscription will not happen. Even in ww1 and ww2 there were people who refused it. I would rather my son went to prison than to the front line and I imagine a lot of others would feel similar, oh, hang on the prisons are full....

Ukrainian citizens found themselves making molotov cocktails and spikes to assist the army in pushing back on Russia.
Not the same as conscription, but when push comes to shove, do you sit back or do you defend your country?

The Tories have made far more defence cuts ever since the 1958 White Paper than any Labour government.

Just as the so-called party of law and order and the lack of police funding.

That’s how I would have read it, as a sarcastic reply.

It was the unnecessary Brexit dig that made made it fall flat.

Brexit was a stupid mistake, but bringing it up time and time again is rather cheap.

Even more reason to take in the ones that waddle - get these guys and girls fit!

He was making the point that we can’t wish away the threat that Russia poses to Europe and the only alternative to a standing army is a conscripted army.

I used to think people wouldn’t stand for conscription these days but since Covid I’ve changed my mind on that- I think we’re all a lot more malleable than we like to think. I also think that we look back at conscription in the 20th C in an unrealistic way, as if everyone then was unquestioningly happy to die for King and country, whereas the real picture was rather more mixed, as it is now- some were keen to fight, many more had no choice but to comply, and some did not comply.

Come to think of it, a fitness to fight assessment might not be a bad idea. I might finally get an x-ray for my dodgy hip...

<facetious comment. I know the above would be impossible considering current NHS waiting lists. Unless it happened via a government contract made available to the right friend of a minister, for the right price, I guess... >

Inaccurate. Very few from London, not SE. Scotland and Wales proportionate. Yorkshire, North West and South West England higher levels of recruitment.

I would say he’s scaremongering, but given that we probably can’t rely on the USA to save us as Europe usually do maybe he does have a point. If Putin were try to invade an EU country, and I don’t think he will, we would be royally fucked.

Oh and not shown here but 1% NI.

Not for conscription but that would do it

I don't have a problem with national service tbh. Countries that do it well have robust programmes that see people finishing with all sorts of skills, and are good at assigning roles appropriately (rather than everyone off to a putative front line). I'm not sure UK implementation would be up to scratch though.

Yes I think NATO has passed some people by

America has never really saved us - just agitated in other peoples countries, while making a shit load of money.
Fighting Naziism was to everyone's benefit - America still exploited that with lend lease.

I would defend my own country from invasion, I wouldn't defend America's continued involvement in other peoples countries. Not least because they keep fucking it up and abandoning places like Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving those poor people even more in the shit!

He’s just saying that the Armed Forces are on their knees and they can’t afford to be cut any further. We all know there’s an election coming, the country is absolutely skint, cutbacks are going to have to be made from some budgets to pay other budgets, so he’s giving the heads up, that this time, it can’t be defence.

The world is different place to what it was in previous wars. I can't see any favourable outcome.

It would be disastrous... nuclear weapons would be used rather than any side surrender.

Why go to war when the end result would be "mutual assured destruction" 😳

Madness.

We have too many severe mental health problems between those that are 25+ years. Mental health issues disqualify you from joining the army, it would never work. They’d be turning every 4th person away on grounds of mental health, every 3rd person away on the grounds of being unfit too. I’d never be allowed to join, between asd, ocd and agoraphobia they’d have more luck getting my into a psychiatric unit than into the army - which is one hell of a feat considering mental health support in this country is non existent.

Tbf I don’t think Putin actually wants to invade anyone in NATO. If you follow the history NATO has been inching closer and closer every decade until it reached Ukraine that is right next to Russia. Russia told us a million times this was the red line but alas Ukraine was to join NATO. However if Russia was to invade long standing NATO nations then yes we are going to war because we have no choice because we would need to act now while NATO combined force was strong. If say we as a nation refused and Putin could take countries one by one could easily end up with a Nazi Germany war machine again. That being said Russia doesn’t have the resources for this kind of campaign.