National service for those aged 18 will be reinstated, according to Sunak.

Labour attacks youth policy as being “desperate and unfunded” and intended to force young people to solve issues that the government has created.
Reviving his election campaign after a disastrous start, Rishi Sunak said that a future Conservative administration will reinstate obligatory national service.

The prime minister said late Saturday that every 18-year-old would have to serve in a competitive, full-time military commission or volunteer one weekend a month in “civil resilience” under the plan, which seemed to be his latest attempt to cut Tory losses by winning over voters drifting to Reform UK.

The program would guarantee young people had “the opportunities they deserve” and the party added that the nation needs to be “open and honest” about the long-term issues it is facing.

The plans call for an 18-year-old to choose a “bold new model of national service” in which they may serve one weekend a month as an NHS responder, RNLI volunteer, or special constable. “Real world skills, while contributing to their country and community,” according to officials.

Essentially, the new national service scheme would be designed by a royal commission, with applications for the trial phase opening in September 2025. That would be supported legally, nevertheless, by a National Service Act.

Britain is sick of the Conservatives, who lack any ideas and have no intentions of putting an end to the turmoil that has lasted for 14 years.
Our country and its ideals can only be preserved for many years to come by promoting a feeling of responsibility and our common culture. “This is an investment in our security as well as the character of young people,” it said.

Claiming 80% of young people finishing national service stated they would suggest it to their classmates, it maintained that a comparable program was effective in Sweden.

Labour attacked the proposal as just another unfunded Tories policy, having previously brought up the possibility of tax cuts they have not yet funded. “This is another desperate, £2.5 billion unfunded commitment from a Tory party that already crashed the economy, sending mortgages rocketing, and now they’re spoiling for more,” a spokesman said.

“This is not a strategy; rather, it is a study that may cost billions and is only required because the Tories reduced the military forces to their lowest level since Napoleon. Britain is sick of the Conservatives; they lack any ideas and have no intentions of putting an end to the turmoil that has lasted for 14 years. With Labour, restore Britain now.

The Tories claimed that a £1 billion tax evasion crackdown and the £1.5 billion presently allocated to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund would help finance the initiative. David Cameron mentioned a similar plan in 2010. A unique youth programme for 16-year-olds would be created under his plans to put a stop to a “pointless waste of potential” among youngsters. Never did the plans materialize.

Over his strategy, Sunak was charged with hypocrisy. Sir Patrick Sanders, the chief of the general staff, was chastised by the prime minister in January for speculating that the UK would require a citizen army to take on Putin. At the time, the spokesperson for the prime minister said that Sunak disagreed with his remarks and that national service—which was outlawed in 1960—would not be reinstated.

Labour leaders also privately charged that by increasing military strength, supporting the NHS, and fixing infrastructure, the Tories were forcing 18-year-olds to solve the issues the government had started.