Sunak promises to introduce mandatory national service for 18 year olds

[Puddy_Tat]

What happens if they have a job working shifts?

i very much doubt anyone has thought about practicalities / detail yet, but think for people in the territorial army, you have a right to time off work for it. presume something similar would have to apply to this nonsense

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

There must be a few urbs that are parents of teenage kids. What do your kids think of this idea? Are they keen to fight?

My 20 year old told my 11 year old it’s an idea she can get behind.

 

[cesare]

Not until after 1789.

I would guess the US probably didn't either.

Did the French revolution happen before or after conscription?

 

[Karl Masks]

What about compulsory voluntary monkey tennis?

 

[weepiper]

I thought there was no such thing as society

 

[moochedit]

What about compulsory voluntary monkey tennis?

That's for next term

 

[kebabking]

My 20 year old told my 11 year old it’s an idea she can get behind.

Disrespectful Wretch #1 WhatsApp'd me this morning to ask if I was in charge of this goat rodeo - upon learning that it's nothing to do with me, she became more upbeat, and suggested that in that case, it might work.

Honestly, my children are such cunts.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

according to james fuckwitly

“This is about dealing with what we know to be the case, which is social fragmentation. Too many young people live in a bubble within their own communities. They don’t mix with people of different religions, they don’t mix with different viewpoints.”

(from guardian article here)

sounds very much like the conservative party and the tufton street twunt farm

 

[A380]

But it'll appeal to the grey haired, old bigots who support the Tories.

But, the problem for the Tories is that they are all voting for Reform...

 

[WouldBe]

Next week he'll announce the return of the home guard

That's ok, we can stay at home and guard it.

 

[WouldBe]

There must be a few urbs that are parents of teenage kids. What do your kids think of this idea? Are they keen to fight?

If not they can join all the others on weekend community service. After all it's a choice so who would want to do a full year doing military service when they could just do 25 days at weekends.

 

[ska invita]

There must be a few urbs that are parents of teenage kids. What do your kids think of this idea? Are they keen to fight?

teenage kids are not the voters being appealed to here

But, the problem for the Tories is that they are all voting for Reform...

reform voters are

 

[freshapple]

Doesn’t the thread title need changing?

 

[weepiper]

Telling the teenagers who've had their entire adolescence and schooling completely disrupted by Covid lockdowns and restrictions (and have mostly borne it with good grace because they understood it was for the greater good to protect the vulnerable) that they live in a bubble and without joining the army for a year they'll never understand sacrifice is a fucking joke, btw.

 

[ouirdeaux]

I know people who've done military service in countries on the continent, and they all said it was a waste of everyone's time. Is there anything good to be said about it?

 

[Poot]

Furthermore, has anyone broken the news to the Army? I live with two potential conscripts and I can confirm that the Army would have a bit of a job on its hands. Yes, even though they have guns.

 

[moochedit]

teenage kids are not the voters being appealed to here

I'm sure some voters will think this is great but teenage kids have parents and grandparents who can vote. This will lose more votes than it gains.

 

[moochedit]

If not they can join all the others on weekend community service. After all it's a choice so who would want to do a full year doing military service when they could just do 25 days at weekends.

I'm too old to be affected now but I wouldn't have wanted to do either option when i was that age and i wouldn't vote to force someone else to do something that i wouldn't have wanted to do. (Not that i was going to vote tory anyway).

 

[moochedit]

Doesn’t the thread title need changing?

I'll bite.. Why?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Telling the teenagers who've had their entire adolescence and schooling completely disrupted by Covid lockdowns and restrictions (and have mostly borne it with good grace because they understood it was for the greater good to protect the vulnerable) that they live in a bubble and without joining the army for a year they'll never understand sacrifice is a fucking joke, btw.

Nail/head

But of course they don’t have the first clue about that and do not actually give a flying fuck for the generation that is gonna take over, cunts that they are.

 

[kebabking]

I know people who've done military service in countries on the continent, and they all said it was a waste of everyone's time. Is there anything good to be said about it?

It depends how it's done - when Germany had conscription in the 1989-2011 period, it was an absolute waste of time. The conscripts did tickbox training, then spent most of the rest of the time sitting around being bored. Some were used in office and transport roles, but mostly it was lacklustre training, then going to units with no training budget and no exercises. Literally sweeping the tank park 5 days a week.

Norway doesn't do mass military conscription, it takes a small number - the highest academic and 'potential' achievers, and uses them in serious roles. Because of that the military service period is recognised by employers as being both an indication of a high quality applicant, and that the training/work itself has added to that - so it's a huge advantage in the job market, and so it's competitive to get picked for the military service element.

In Finland it's a very serious military training regimen - their conscripts are very rarely bored and are trained to a very high standard. Finland has societal cohesion stats that are enviable...

In Estonia they follow something similar to the Finnish line, but they are also particularly keen on getting conscripts who have technical/cyber skills into their cyber/intelligence/technical units where they are both trained and productive, and they maintain a connection to those units and return regularly after they leave conscript service and become reservists.

If it's a re-run of the 1950's then it's not worth doing - for anyone's sake - but that's not the only model.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Is there anything good to be said about it?

A few officers might get their throats cut.

 

[dessiato]

But, the problem for the Tories is that they are all voting for Reform...

I'm all for Tory vote being split between Reform and Cons. Hopefully it'll help destroy both parties.

 

[Wilf]

Whatever the one weekend in four thing is, it would be just another fucking thing for kids to fit shifts, college or university around. They haven't got a clue about working class lives.

Though, as mentioned above, this isn't an actual policy so much as a time machine back to the 50s.

 

[Lotte]

The Army doesn't want conscripts. It wants people who actually want to be there.

 

[Wilf]

The Army doesn't want conscripts. It wants people who actually want to be there.

Ditto organisations like the NHS who would also have to divert staff to look after these kids.

The other thing is, if this is such a good idea, why didn't they work out the details at some point since 2010.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

When I was 18 if I'd been conscripted I would have told them where to go. Still would. As would all my friends. Assuming my friendship and acquaintanceship circle is a valid cross section of society in general in 2024, then this idea is a non-starter.

 

[moochedit]

What would the nhs option involve exactly? (Not that sunak knows obviously)

 

[Wilf]

There's an underlying assumption in nonsense like this that most 18 year old are living the life of Riley with housing benefit and the dole or the choice of well paid jobs. Or, that plenty of older voters think that nonsense.

 

[Silas Loom]

What would the nhs option involve exactly? (Not that sunak knows obviously)

Teenagers are good at procrastination, surliness and dismissive sneering, so you could deploy half of them as neurology consultants and the other half as receptionists for GPs.