- Chas Geiger and Sam Francis
- Political reporter
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said young people serving as part of national service would be given a “stipend” to help with living costs.
The Chancellor did not give details about the amount of benefits and allowances participants would receive from the £2.5 billion annual budget.
The Conservatives also confirmed that “sanctions” will be applied to anyone who refuses to get involved.
Opposition parties have criticised the plan as a “plot.”
The Conservatives have promised that if they win the general election, all 18-year-olds will have to take part in a system that includes military or civilian service.
The party also suggested incentives for young people to take up the 30,000 military places could include highlighting national service on UCAS applications and encouraging employers to favour those who have completed their placement.
“This modern form of national service will mean young people get the skills and opportunities they need which will serve them well in life,” Mr Sunak told reporters at an election event in Buckinghamshire.
“This will foster a culture of service that is extremely powerful in strengthening social cohesion and making our nation more secure and resilient in a more uncertain and dangerous world.”
“Like other countries, we will provide a living allowance to those carrying out military activities alongside their training,” he said in a separate TikTok video.
“Meanwhile, on the civic side, we ensure that organizations have funding for training and management.”
The party continues to use social media sites despite being banned on government devices due to security concerns.
Conservative deputy chairman James Daly told the BBC that there would be “some form of sanctions” imposed on those who do not take part in the mandatory scheme.
“I believe if you’re healthy, fit and able and you can contribute to the community and do something for the community, young people will seize the opportunity,” he said.
But he added that making the scheme mandatory was “important” because “this is about opportunity”.
Without compulsory education and state support to create opportunities, “a lot of kids will miss out,” Daly said. And in certain circumstances, some kids who probably need this more than others, don’t have the money, they don’t have parents who can arrange work experience or do these things for them.
“They attack the ministers.”
The Conservatives said young people serving full-time in the military could have better work and study opportunities, including priority interviews for the civil service and private sector graduate programmes.
Home Secretary James Cleverley on Sunday ruled out criminal penalties for teenagers who refused to take any part in the scheme, saying “no one will go to prison for this”.
Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan told Times Radio the scheme would be compulsory, just like any education or training until the age of 18.
Asked whether parents could be fined if their children refused to register, she said that would be a matter for the royal commission.
The announcement of the policy came as a surprise to many Conservatives, including some members of Mr Sunak’s own government.
In a post on X, Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker, a former RAF officer, appeared to distance himself from the plan, suggesting it had been “drawn up by political advisers and suddenly imposed on candidates, some of whom are relevant ministers”.
The National Service system from 1947 to 1960 required young men aged between 17 and 21 to serve in the armed forces for 18 months, but this system did not apply to Northern Ireland.
The Conservatives said a royal commission would examine the details of the plan.
Last week, the day after the election was called, Defence Personnel Minister Andrew Mallison told MPs there were no plans to reintroduce “any form of national service”.
He warned that if national service recruits were assigned to another force “it would be difficult to give them suitable and meaningful roles”.
Campaigning in West Sussex, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described the plans as the work of “an army of teenage dads” and a sign of “desperation”.
He also criticised Conservative proposals to “end equalisation and use tax-free money that could be used to invest in the NHS”.
Labour questioned how the Ministry of Defence would find the funding for the scheme, which would see 30,000 people.
A Labour spokesman also pointed to cuts to funding for the voluntary National Citizen Service in 2022 when Mr Sunak was chancellor, and said: “What were the flaws in the youth services model that was wasting money that have now been fixed in the new plans put forward this week?”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Not content with crashing the economy and sending mortgages spiralling downwards, the Conservatives now want to fine parents whose children don’t take part in their reckless schemes.”
“Rishi Sunak’s plan to make families suffer with the NIS shows the Conservative party is totally out of touch with reality and deserves to be ousted from power.”
The Liberal Democrats called for a reversal of military cuts “to protect national security.”
