Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced his plans to reintroduce National Service if he wins the general election 4th of July 2024. The proposal is for 18-year-olds to work for either the fire service, police, NHS, or other public services for one weekend every month of the year, 25 days in total. The other option is a competitive placement in the military, capped at 30,000 places per year.  He has also suggested encouraging employers to favour young people who have completed this year of service. In Orwellian doublespeak, the government is calling it volunteering while it is in fact mandatory, and are threatening to seize driving licences and bank accounts of those who refuse. 

The proposal to reintroduce National Service came at the same time the Conservatives proposed an update to increase the pension allowance. Both the new plan to improve pensions and the plan to reintroduce National Service, carry eye-wateringly expensive price tags that seem to lack a substantive plan for funding them. The pension proposal would cost £2.4 billion per year, but the actual cost will be greater, as the cost will only increase due to the scheme’s format. The National Service program will cost £2.5 billion per year. If the last few decades are any indication of future performance, the UK government will likely postpone the hurt of paying for these programs further into the future. This will only worsen the plight of young people who are expected to work and pick up the cheques for these programs. By the time they retire, they may not be so fortunate to enjoy the benefits of a system they spent their entire working lives paying for, while struggling to find stable and adequate accommodation due to the soaring costs created by the housing crisis. 

Read the entire piece in SpeakFreely Magazine.