According to the British Ministry of Defence, Ben Wallace did not mean the return of conscription with his statement.
Britain’s Minister of Defense Ben Wallace praises the reservist system of the Finnish and Swedish Defense Forces. Wallace said that he would like to see a similar system in Britain.
Wallace spoke about it in his meeting with the Swedish Minister of Defense on Wednesday Pål Jonson’s with. Wallace told the media that conscription and the reserve often go hand in hand.
“We are definitely jealous of how they utilize their reserves. I would really love it if we had a similar model,” Wallace said.
Britain waived conscription for all young men in 1960. Mainly right-wing politicians have demanded its return.
Wallace pointed out that Finland and Sweden made different choices regarding conscription in the decades after World War II than many other European countries.
Britain’s the Ministry of Defense denied that Wallace’s comments meant that he wanted to restore conscription. According to the ministry, Wallace wanted to emphasize the positive effects that reservists have on Finland and Sweden.
“He praised the reservist models of those countries and in no way expressed that he wanted to bring conscription to Britain,” the ministry representative said.
Wallace noted that reservists are of great use to modern armed forces, which need experts in cyber warfare, for example.
“It must be noted that Ukraine’s lesson for us is to increase resilience, and the reservists are part of that.”
In London, Wallace and Jonson also discussed the progress of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership. Finland’s NATO membership is about to get its seal in the next few days, while Sweden’s NATO path is currently blocked by the ratifications of Turkey and Hungary.
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