UK’s Sunak promises mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if elected
www.aljazeera.com
Ruling Conservative Party says it will bring back national service if it wins the July 4 general election.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15826549

Ruling Conservative Party says it will bring back national service if it wins the July 4 general election.

Eighteen-year-olds will have to perform a mandatory national service if the Conservative Party is voted back to power in the United Kingdom’s July 4 election, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced.

The prime minister’s plan would entail young people being given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year volunteering in their community, the party said.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    51·
    1 month ago

    Will be unpopular among the 18-35 year old voters, who are historically the lowest turnout demographic, and will actually have to shoulder the burden.

    This sort of thing seems like exactly the sort of thing that would spur that demographic to come out and vote. Self-interest is a powerful thing.

    • bitwaba@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      1 month ago

      Yeah, it does, and yet hardly any young voters showed up to the polls when the torries wanted to flush the kids futures down the toilet with the Brexit vote. So they’ve got lots of historical data to suggest young voters don’t matter.