Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Keep them in school until age 16 : massaging the youth unemployment figures.

Keep them in school, college or apprenticeships until age 18 : massaging the youth unemployment figures.

Keep them in school, college or apprenticeships until age 18, then oblige them to do a year's National Service : massaging the youth unemployment figures.

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Get ALL 16 year olds to do 2yrs of Bad Lads Army, get Cpl. Nauyokas out of retirement !

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

There's 1.6 million of them - he might need a megaphone...

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Idk… the cpl & sarge couldn’t half shout I think the RSM was even louder !

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

This is my thought exactly. I had to scroll a fair way before I found someone else thinking the same thing!

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Its not going to happen, so this is all a bit of a meaningless discussion really.

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Asked my 15 year old what she thought about this idea. Her response was ‘fruity’ and robust :rofl:

(that said, she volunteers every week as a Junior Cub Scout Leader already)

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

The thing that’s most irritating about this proposal is that it deliberately refuses to engage with the fact that a good number of young people do actually do useful community volunteering already. The proposal bluntly states that national service (the community rather than the military variant) must be in addition to whatever else the young person has got going on.

I’m not remotely bothered about the practicalities of that because as we all know, this will never happen. The thing that appalls me is the mean-spiritedness evident in the very idea. It really is just brazen in its nastiness towards one part of society in pursuit of the approval of another.

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

From a generation that never did national service and has bled the country dry. Left the young in debt, with no prospects, no housing, and stopped them pursuing careers in EU countries. As long as we have the Proms, Dad's Army powdered egg and rationing back, everything will be super.

Time for the young to have a revolution, or at least motivate them to vote.

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

On the volunteering front, my eldest took part in the National Citizenship Service program launched by the David Cameron government a while back (https://wearencs.com/) which was a weeks residential course which included life skills, teamwork, employment skills, etc. and a weeks volunteering (she worked at a women’s shelter) Locally, the course was co-sponsored by Watford FC.

The course was brilliantly run and she got a lot out of it, including a certificate ‘signed’ by Boris Johnson the day after he resigned.

Unfortunately, the funding has been cut by nearly 70% on the orders of the then Chancellor, one R. Sunak…

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

Interesting final line. During the second global disagreement with Germany, young lads not old enough to pass a driving test today were placed in bombers and flew overseas to bring fire from the skies. They were capable enough. They won a war.

I wonder if your point is more about today's young peoples' capacity or willing rather than their age. Perhaps then this is more about the values and standards in today's society? Perhaps if we look at it from that angle, we might argue that giving these young people, where society has become too lenient and too 'tolerant', where there are no boundaries or consequences for their actions even from their parents, might give them a place to grow and develop. Where they can build lasting comraderies and friendships. Where they might find a calling, or at the very least, something they can feel proud about and where acheivement (likely something they rarely experienced in school or at home) is rewarded and recognised.

Sometimes, people need to be pushed into something that is outside of their comfort zone at first, to actually reach their potential. Maybe this is that thing for many, many young people struggling to find a way in life, where the opportunities are harder to find, things cost far more than they did and thus their prospects are deminishing all the time.

Do you think this is an unrealistic scenario that a lot of young people face?

Re: National Service in the British Military
 

But there was an existential threat during WW2 - the only threat being addressed by the Tories’ proposal is them losing the election, so they’re going for the Boomer vote (most of whom haven’t served in any way, shape or form.).