" Lucy Fisher and George Parker in London and Jennifer Williams in Manchester
12 MINUTES AGO
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to reintroduce compulsory UK national service, including assigning up to 30,000 18-year-olds to the military, was rejected last week by one his own defence ministers.
Defence personnel minister Andrew Murrison warned of a hit to morale, headcount and resources if “potentially unwilling national service recruits” were introduced alongside Britain’s professional armed forces.
In a written answer in parliament last Thursday, Murrison said there were no plans to revive national service, which was scrapped in 1960, just two days before Sunak put the policy at the heart of the Conservative election manifesto.
“If potentially unwilling national service recruits were to be obliged to serve alongside the professional men and women of our armed forces, it could damage morale, recruitment and retention and would consume professional military and naval resources,” Murrison said. “If, on the other hand, national service recruits were kept in separate units, it would be difficult to find a proper and meaningful role for them, potentially harming motivation and discipline.”
FT.com
12 MINUTES AGO
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to reintroduce compulsory UK national service, including assigning up to 30,000 18-year-olds to the military, was rejected last week by one his own defence ministers.
Defence personnel minister Andrew Murrison warned of a hit to morale, headcount and resources if “potentially unwilling national service recruits” were introduced alongside Britain’s professional armed forces.
In a written answer in parliament last Thursday, Murrison said there were no plans to revive national service, which was scrapped in 1960, just two days before Sunak put the policy at the heart of the Conservative election manifesto.
“If potentially unwilling national service recruits were to be obliged to serve alongside the professional men and women of our armed forces, it could damage morale, recruitment and retention and would consume professional military and naval resources,” Murrison said. “If, on the other hand, national service recruits were kept in separate units, it would be difficult to find a proper and meaningful role for them, potentially harming motivation and discipline.”
FT.com
