To think we are being lined up for something?

[BeverForget]

I work in food supply chain.
Four of the 'big' grocery retailers have just asked to renegotiate at least four weeks min supply, as opposed to two.
This happened in Feb 2020 as well.
Lots of rhetoric about being on a war footing, from politicos.
And then Sunak essentially jumping ship yesterday, as though he knows there is a crisis on the horizon that he wants no part of.
There is no way that the Tories have a prayer in a July election.
So what do they know that they aren't telling us?

Yes, sitting in London right now, phone sometimes spells for me.

Thanks!

I've don't believe an older mind is flexible enough to understand more than one point of view or vote other than in unenlightened self interest. (Plus not having a longer term future perspective).

well, I don't believe that obviously (?) - but it's perhaps no worse a point of view that dismissing the right of young adults to vote

Time then to have developed fixed views then and prejudice!

Is this URL for this thread? It seems to be about three unvaccinated people in the UK having contracted meningitis while at a mass pilgrimage?

I don't think the voting age should be lowered - I'd be worried that in future that 16 olds would end up being treated as adults in the legal system.

I really don't think people started panic buying (well, except our neighbour who probably bought all baby formula which was in stock at our Asda). Did our weekly shopping today at 3 supermarkets - no shortages... No limits for batteries, etc.

Perhaps the new constituency boundaries have something to do with having the election now.

If there was something looming that Sunak doesn't want a part of, he would not be standing himself.

I think announcing National Service is a big marker that he doesn’t want to be part of something without having to bother standing down.

@Fallenangelofthenorth
How waaay far ahead are we talking re these social distancing sticker orders? pre 2020? I lived in Hong Kong worked in product development so also familiar with leadtimes and HK already had all those signs and stickers cropping up public in the end of January/beginning of February 2020.

Indeed I remember being heavily pregnant and being told at school that our children were breaking up early for Chinese New Year😬 due to the virus from Wuhan so much for getting a rest in before baby arrived. CNY was 25th January 2020 for reference. I also remember the situation on covid virus being reported on UK news in Christmas 2019 whilst home in UK .
Unless you are insinuating the ordered items were booked earlier than Christmas 2019 it's not really that 'out there ' re preparedness not when other countries were already ordering /modelling their reactions /restrictions

Thank you for your calm words and common sense.

Remembered this thread and just came on to say maybe the op’s right! Rishi’s National Service proposal out of nowhere is just plain odd, and more likely to make me think we are being softened up for some future event. I’m not one for ridiculous conspiracy theories, but I do think there’s always a lot more going on behind the scenes than most of us realise.

The future event is him trying ( and failing) to win the election.

Is it possible that Sunak discovered other political parties were thinking of including national service in their manifestos and he got in first?

It has been qualified by naming alternatives to the services. For my part I think it a very good idea. There is no doubt that the availability of apprenticeships could be higher. The military services train people in all sorts of careers, and there is nothing wrong with that.

How are career prospects for 18 year olds? I don't have figures, but can guess that openings are not exactly there in abundance. Perhaps the Government has more knowledge of employment of young people than we are aware of? The minimum wage for that age is really not much at all, and many of them are in jobs with ittle or no future, and if there is an opportunity for young adults to learn not only a trade but also the experience of life itself, learning to mix with people, how to get along with people, and more importantly, let them know there are many more types of employment than they get from teachers at school.

As Macron introduced it in 2021 I wonder if he’s been thinking 🤔maybe it’s a good idea if France can do it so can we.

No. He is appealing to the boomers. Ie the youth of the today is useless and needs teaching a thing or two’ brigade.
Elders thinking the youth of today are out of control and need teaching a thing or two is something that elders have thought for hundreds of years- it’s well written about historically.
It’s just a ploy to target a certain band of potential voters.
The fact you think that everyone would hate the idea is naive but sweet

My Dad (who died recently at 84), did everything he could to avoid national service, as did a lot of his contemporaries - it was something they absolutely did not want to do. He managed to escape it in the end by becoming an accountancy apprentice (which wasn't the career he wanted, but better that than NS). The main reason he wanted to avoid it was that his father had recently died and as the eldest, he NEEDED to be earning for the sake of his mother and sisters.

He was lucky, his family was lucky. Imagine how many families will be facing this dilemma in the cost of living crisis (which will be getting worse), when everyone in a household needs to be an earner.

My dad would NOT have been in favour of this policy, but sadly I think you're right about most of his generation. It's also worth noting that it was stopped not long after my dad's age group, so there aren't many left who actually did NS.

The plan is for this to be for kids not in employment, education or training.

And the ones doing military/ cyberintelligence get paid.

My dad was born in 1934 and I don't think he did it, he never mentioned it anyway, both parents are dead now so I can't ask them. FIL born 1939, don't know if that's included was in the forces anyway.

My DF born in 1932 did NS. He did it in the RAF and learned to fly (which he loved). Wasn’t too keen on military life so didn’t stay on in the RAF which they offered at the end of his NS stint.

After he died I went through his paperwork and found his old flying log books

I don't think there was ns between the wars, however a number of young men joined the volunteer reserves, as my grandad did because they could see the likelihood of another war and wanted to be prepared, and also choose to a certain extent what they did.
My grandad joined the rafvr in 1938 and reckoned that extra year training before war broke out could have well saved his life. Once the Battle of Britain was underway the people arriving often had less than 2 weeks training. They used to reckon if they survived their first sorted then they had a 50/50 chance of surviving the next, and if they survived that one, then a good chance of managing long term. Not many did.

My uncle was destined for the coal mines. Without Conscription his talent in maths would never have been recognised (his village school was absolutely hopeless and most boys ended up doing work for the coal pits - above or under ground). Conscription meant that he finished his time in the army as a major.

My brother joined the territorial army in the early 00s, and did a tour of Iraq II. The TAs were used a lot in security and patrols, looking for snipers and IUDs, escorts and the like. They were very well-trained and were valuable in supporting the regular army (they were far better trained than the American regulars). However, after Iraq they had a lot of funding pulled and my brother left because the training standards severely dropped. I think it would be a far better idea to beef up the TAs again, recruiting from tec industries to increase the expertise in tactical intelligence and drones, and the like.

I am not sure about that. I remember there was a programme on BBC TV - which highlighted prospects for children for careers. How many parents know what prospects their children have for careers? Are there career officers in their area, in their schools? Do children even know what careers are available for them? Are schools labelling children before they even pass them on to a careers expert?

Perhaps some form of military or social service would give some 18 year olds an idea of what is possible for them. Many children grow up believing that they will work in the local factory as their parents did, because no one has told them they don't have to.

I will not forget that one child wanted to go into the medical profession. She wanted to be a doctor.

When the teacher was asked if that was possible, the teacher replied that the family is poor and she was unlikely to achieve the goal so better she was guided into a career which was more in keeping with her family background. (or words to that effect as it was some time ago)

Now that appalled me. It might not other people, and that is the problem. There has always been a shortage of career teachers in schools, which could be why children leave school without an aim in life. It could be why children see no future in exams.

I once asked a child why he wasn't at school, and he said school was useless, that he wanted to be a mechanic and they didn't learn anything at school for that. It is heartbreaking when children cannot see the benefits of education. I told the lad that the point of school apart from learning a particular subject was to show future employers that his brain was capable of taking in knowledge and remembering it for exams. I like to think he took notice of that.