Within hours of being unveiled, Rishi Sunak's flagship election pledge to bring back military service for 18-year-olds was rubbished by military chiefs and a former Conservative defence secretary.
The prime minister pledged on Saturday to introduce mandatory national service, which would mean young people spending a year in the military or doing volunteer work at weekends. He doubled down on the proposal last night, insisting that national service schemes in other countries "show how just how fulfilling it is for young people".
But Adm Lord West, a former chief of the naval staff, branded it a "bonkers" plan that would deplete the defence budget.
"I'm delighted if more young people become aware of defence and are involved... but this idea is basically bonkers," West told the Guardian. "We need to spend more on defence, and-by doing what he's suggesting money will be sucked out of defence."
He added that the prime minister should have committed more funds to the defence budget before the election.
Lord Dannatt, a former chief of the general staff, said the proposal was "electoral opportunism". "The costs of this would be considerable in terms of trainers and infrastructure.
This task cannot just be imposed on the armed forces as an extra thing to do," he added.
Michael Portillo, a former Tory defence secretary, said that the announcement could do further damage to the party's reputation for fiscal responsibility.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 27, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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