National Service if Tories are re-elected

[MaryMaryVeryContrary]

Thoughts? 🍿

This is quite normal in a number of European countries which can be up to two years and covers women too. I think its' a great idea.

That's what they said about Brexit!

National service would be great if it just meant learning to get up early, polish your boots and make a bed neatly. Not sure it's a great idea to train our youth to handle powerful weapons, and/or send them off somewhere as cannon fodder.

Something like compulsory tap dancing might be a better idea 😊

You first then.

I think he’s had a dream job offer so he wants out as soon as possible. He’s recently put forward a few proposals he knows will be unpopular. One example is the proposed overhaul of sickness and disability benefits. In the speech announcing the proposed reforms he didn’t appear to know the difference between the two - how can you reform a benefit if you don’t understand it’s function ? Now this ill considered plan for national service. He’s effectively weaponising the Tories own incompetence and he’s probably ordering the removal van as we speak.

And if it's 25 days a year and you are working, do you get paid time off work?
Or do you have to do it in your spare time?

Do you have to volunteer at the same place? Or can you alternate?

So many questions for a candidate.

No doubt they will say "we are setting up a Commission to look at this"

We might find the Quakers growing exponentially - which would be no bad thing !

“The civic roles would include supporting flood defences and communities during natural disasters, NHS support roles, fire safety work, or signing up for the RNLI or mountain search and rescue."

Whoever wrote this must think the electorate is thick.

Signing up for the RNLI?

How’s that going to work for kids in Birmingham?

The “North & East” region of RNLI - which stretches from Northumberland to Essex - has 36 lifeboat stations. That’s not going to make much of an inroad into three quarters of a million “listless” unemployed 18 to 24 year olds.

Will it be helpful to each of those lifeboat stations to be dealing with a new and untrained 18 year old every year, or will it be unhelpful? How about in a “search and rescue” situation? Will it be helpful or unhelpful to the person at risk of drowning to have an untrained 18 yo on the vessel?

Absolute codswallop.

If we’re taking a lot of young people out of the weekend paid economy for part of the year, working in bars, restaurants, leisure facilities, how is that going to be backfilled without impacting those businesses?

It's OK - all those people on PIP will be drafted on as part of their "new approach to therapy".

Rishi " we are going to bring back national Service "

Sergeant Wilson " do you think that's wise Sir ?"

I work for a large government department and larst week we had newsletters encouraging staff to sign up to be reservists. Highlighting the paid time off to go off training, also getting paid by the MoD for the training days, plus an annual cash bonus for completing said training days! And of course all the extra skills reservists will develop.

Made it sound quite interesting for those not thinking it through..

I laughed so hard when I read the headline. Desperado! How long has he had that up his sleeve? Twats.

With the cannon fodder comments throughout this thread (not aimed at anyone specific), I'm sort of assuming that the National Service recruits would be used very much as a last resort along with general conscription if the UK itself was under threat. Like in Ukraine where the age of conscription has only just been lowered. Or like in the Second WW. And the National Service recruits(our kids) would have a far higher chance of surviving than anyone older who didn't do National Service as they would have had training, unlike the rest of us. It's the untrained that wouldn't have a clue.

There are so many issues with this it’s unbelievable. For anyone on the fence about voting conservative this surely pushes them the opposite way.

What if 18 year olds want to go straight to uni? Do they have to defer (therefore throwing the uni system into panic). This will further cause skills shortages in jobs such as NHS etc.

What if they work at the weekend, will the scheme cover lost wages? Some 18 year olds will be in full time employment, are they meant to work all week and then work again at the weekend?

What if a young person works on a family farm or weekend tourism business? Who covers that work?

the young person can’t drive how they get to the volunteer place?

How will the army cope with thousands of young people who don’t want to be there.

What if the young people want to spend time studying or travel overseas?

The whole idea is just bonkers, I’m sure there are other members of society they could target for volunteer community work.

This just seems like a way to disrupt those still in education??? They didn't have my vote anyway but I have a 15 yr old DD and this would potentially affect her - they can fuck right off. They've just given me yet another reason not to vote for them.

To be fair, the vast bulk of regular volunteers doing things like running independent museums and heritage preservation charities are retired - that is how they have the time to do it.
I strongly suspect that they are also largely manning the charity shops, food banks, providing pastoral services to hospitals, writing grant applications to support nature reserves, giving even more elderly people lifts to their medical appointments etc etc already.

Probably be fines if you don't do it which will be a get out clause for the well off, bit like Covid

Totally. Anyone with kids or gc stupid enough to vote for them should do it (not their kids but the voters).

My eldest turns 18 next month- I have been trying to persuade him to vote/take an interest. I think maybe Rishi has cracked how to get him to vote….. it just won’t be conservative!!

We have ever only known peace in the UK in our lifetimes. Human civilisation goes in cycles. Wars happen, bubbles burst. We are well overdue.

National Service of one kind or another is entirely normal in other countries and the young people just get on with it. I did national service in another country as I have duel citizenship. It was fine.

It is inevitable that this country will one day be at war, we will be invaded as it has been many times before. It is absolutely delusional and arrogant to think otherwise.

Do you think the invading troops will knock on the door before they come in? Have a look at what is happen/has happened in the Ukraine and Israel/Palestine to see what ‘modern civilisation’ is capable of.

Meanwhile people are worried about Saturday jobs…

Problem is with pointing to how the scheme works in European countries is that isn’t what the Tories would set up here. They’d set something up that outsourced the running to their mates at vastly inflated prices (look at what happened with COVID and god knows what else over the past 14 years) with no actual thought or care because what is best for young people isn’t what is motivating this. They only want to do it because they think it’ll attract the pensioner vote (or more realistically, those in the generation after who seem to think they were first on the beaches in Normandy from being brought up on a diet of 60/70s war films and are looking like they might bugger off to reform) or, more sinisterly because they think a war on the ground in Europe is looking increasingly likely and a decade plus of austerity has left the army without resources.

That’s why I always cringe when people bring up European insurance models when discussing NHS care. I wouldn’t have too much of an issue with that if it was well through through and compassionate (the NHS can’t continue in its current state). But the Conservative government is much more likely to go for a US style model where they can really make some money for themselves/their friends (I remember when the Health and Social Care Bill was passed - multiple conservative MPs and health ministers were in the states giving speeches that now was a great time for the American healthcare companies to invest etc in the NHS). We wouldn’t get the sort of system that you get in Europe, we’d get the sort of system where you get cancer and lose your house.

Rishi has motivated DD(18) and her friends to get their arses to the polling stations this July, at least. And I guarantee he will not get their votes.

If they wanted to do this, they’ve had 14 years to do so. It is only being announced because they know they will lose and won’t have to enforce it. Then they can badger Starmer over why he has t done it. They really think we’re all ejits.

This is quite normal in a number of European countries which can be up to two years and covers women too. I think its' a great idea.

Other countries invest in their young people though.

well, looks like we will be leaving the country if Tories get in. Thankful my DH and DC all have passports for another country .
Luckily most of my children are now too old for this (and have actually managed to gain life skills, go through uni, work part time to fund uni then graduate and get jobs without the help of this scheme!)
But there is no way I would subject my current 16 year old to this ridiculous idea. He wants to go to uni. He has worked hard for his GCSes. he is a kind and reposnible young man. Im not going to let a goveernment who has done their best to make life as hard as possible for his generation then dictate to him he has to put his life on hold at 18 to indulge their ridiculous schemes.