- The UK has so much to be proud of as a country, but we also need to be open about the long-term challenges we face – including how generations of young people don’t have the opportunities they deserve.
- That is why the Conservatives will introduce a bold new model of National Service for 18-year-olds to be spent either in a competitive, full-time military placement over 12 months, or spend the equivalent of one weekend a month (25 days a year) volunteering for the community. This will give young people real world skills, while contributing to their country and community.
- The Conservatives’ plan will ensure the youngest generations, and the country as a whole, meet the challenges of an uncertain world. Sir Keir Starmer and Labour don’t have a clear plan and won’t take the bold action needed to navigate to a more secure future.
Mario Creatura has welcomed the Conservatives’ new mandatory National Service for every 18-year-old, giving young people the opportunities they deserve to secure a brighter future amidst a more uncertain world.
By introducing a bold new model of mandatory National Service, every 18-year-old will either spend a full year in a competitive, full-time military placement or UK cyber defence, or spend the equivalent of one weekend a month (25 days a year) volunteering in a civic role. Individuals will be able to choose between roles in our communities, including in local infrastructure, the NHS, and the RNLI.
This will give young people across the country the opportunities they deserve to gain the valuable life skills they need, making our country more secure and building a stronger national culture.
This will be funded through the Conservatives’ clear plan to raise an additional £6 billion a year by the end of the next Parliament from cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion, of which £1 billion will be allocated to the National Service, in addition to the remaining £1.5 billion previously used for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
This is on top of the Conservatives’ bold action to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, the biggest strengthening of our national defence in a generation, maintaining our leading position in NATO and supporting our Armed Forces.
Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan to support the youngest generations and will take the bold action needed to deliver the opportunities they rightfully deserve in a more uncertain world.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour have no clear plan to strengthen our defence or support our young people and won’t take the bold action needed to navigate to a more secure future. Labour do not support increasing defence to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, putting a £75 billion investment in the UK’s defence at risk, and they would slash the number of apprenticeships across the country in half – putting our national security and the future of our young people at risk.
Mario said:
“We have so much to proud of in Britain but, one of the problems we face is that too many young people don’t get the opportunities they deserve.
“That is why I welcome our new National Service model which will provide young people with a choice to serve in our world-leading Armed Forces or volunteer for our community, so they can contribute to their country whilst gaining the valuable skills they need for a brighter future.
“Only the Conservatives can be trusted with the future of our young people and our country. Labour would take us back to square one, placing both at risk.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“This is a great country but generations of young people have not had the opportunities or experience they deserve and there are forces trying to divide our society in this increasingly uncertain world.
“I have a clear plan to address this and secure our future. I will bring in a new model of National Service to create a shared sense of purpose among our young people and a renewed sense of pride in our country.
“This new, mandatory National Service will provide life-changing opportunities for our young people, offering them the chance to learn real world skills, do new things and contribute to their community and our country.”
The Conservatives will introduce mandatory National Service for every 18-year-old, allowing them to choose their pathway to unlock the opportunities they deserve:
- Young people will have the opportunity to serve in a competitive, full-time military placement over 12 months in the Armed Forces or UK cyber defence. This placement will be selective with so our Armed Forces can continue to recruit and train the brightest and the best, where young people will learn and take part in logistics, cyber security, or procurement (Express, 26 May 2024, link).
- Young people will have the opportunity to volunteer one weekend per month (25 days per year) in a civic role. Young people will have the choice between roles in our communities, such as: local infrastructure, NHS, fire services, and the British Red Cross (Express, 26 May 2024, link).
The Conservatives are doing this by:
- Setting up a Royal Commission to design national service, working with the military and civic society. The Commission will bring forward a proposal on how to make sure the first pilot is open for applications in September 2025, and we will introduce a new National Service Act to ensure that every 18-year-old will be required to do either military or civic national service by the end of the next Parliament (Express, 26 May 2024, link).
- Reinventing national service will give young people valuable life skills, make our country more secure, and build a stronger national culture. Young people will receive best-in-class training in critical skill sets for the economy, from cyber to civil engineering to leadership. It will make our country more secure by diverting young people away from crime and unemployment, and training new generations to support their community and our security. And this will build a stronger national culture, where everyone shares a commitment to improving our country, and everyone shares in a sense of belonging (Express, 26 May 2024, link).
The Conservatives will fund this by:
- Raising an additional £6 billion a year by the end of the next Parliament by cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion, of which £1 billion will be allocated to the National Service. When fully rolled out, the National Service will cost £2.5 billion a year by 2029-30. £1 billion of this will be funded through our plan to raise an additional £6 billion a year by the end of the next Parliament from cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion (BBC, 26 May 2024, link).
- Allocating £1.5 billion that was previously used for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to the National Service. The remaining £1.5 billion will be paid for using funding previously used for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. We will extend this for three years. From 2028-29 onwards, the UKSPF will be diverted into National Service (BBC, 26 May 2024, link).
The Conservatives will always act in the interest of our national security:
- The Conservative Government are increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, the biggest strengthening of our national defence in a generation. We are maintaining our leading position in NATO with defence spending reaching £87 billion a year in 2030, primarily focused on three areas: firing up the UK defence industrial base, modernising our Armed Forces, and backing Ukraine’s defence (PMO, Press Release, 23 April 2024, link).
Meanwhile Labour have no plan to secure the future of the youngest generations or our country:
- Labour have refused to commit to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, causing more uncertainty and putting our national security at risk. Labour have refused to commit to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 and want to spend years holding a review on defence spending while the world gets more dangerous, taking us back to square one (Times Radio, 24 April 2024, archived).
- Labour would halve the number of apprenticeships by allowing 50 per cent of Apprenticeship Levy funds to go to other non-apprenticeship training, meaning worse life opportunities for young people. Labour will allow firms to spend ‘up to 50 per cent of their levy contributions, including current underspend, on non-apprenticeship training – including modular courses and functional skills courses to tackle key skills gaps’ (Labour Press, Article, 27 September 2022, link).
Photo by Chris Boland on Unsplash
