Britain|The leader of the Conservatives, Rishi Sunak, justifies his election promise by, among other things, fostering a sense of nationalism and taking care of the skills of young people.
Britain’s Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Rishi Sunak promises to bring back compulsory national service if the Conservative Party wins the July general election. British public radio reports on the matter, among others BBC and a British magazine The Guardian.
In the Conservatives’ proposal, the options for 18-year-old Britons would be full-time army or service in cyber defense and volunteering one weekend a month. Volunteer work could be done, for example, for the rescue service, the police or public health care.
The civil service would cost Britain about 2.5 billion pounds, or about 2.9 billion euros, per year.
Sunak has justified his election promise with, among other things, fostering a “national feeling”, national security and helping young people.
“I am going to introduce a new model of civic service to create a common, shared goal among our young people and to strengthen the sense of pride in our country,” Sunak said, according to the BBC.
Sunak claims that civic service would, for example, steer unemployed and young people without an education place away from “the path of crime and unemployment”. At the same time, young people would learn “real-life skills, to do new things and make an impact in their communities and country”.
Conservatives according to which the civic service would be financed from two sources. A billion pounds would be collected through effective control of tax evasion.
The remaining 1.5 billion would be taken from the fund, which has aimed to support communities, businesses and people through local authorities. The program has acted as a replacement for the support given by the European Structural and Investment Fund after Brexit.
the BBC according to the opposition has criticized the proposal citing, among other things, the previous policy of the Conservatives, which has led to the reduction of the British army.
The conservatives have been in power since 2010. While at that time the strength of the British army was more than a hundred thousand, now it is only about 73,000, says the BBC.
According to The Guardian, Labor has also accused the Conservatives of planning to use 18-year-olds to fix the crisis in the public health care system. The paper also points out that yet in January Sunak’s spokesperson said there would be no return to civil service.
The Labor Party based on opinion polls, it is predicted to win the election by a clear margin, so the civic service is unlikely to progress to legislation.
The Labor Party also wants to increase Britain’s military strength: the purpose of the party is lure people into the army, for example by improving the army’s working conditions.
The last time civil service was valid in Britain years 1949–1960. After the Second World War, the obligation was pushed through by the Prime Minister of the Labor Party Clement Attlee.
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