UK conscription and what it could really look like – gap year, key jobs and incentives
Defence Secretary John Healey is trying to push for a "new era for defence" - giving young people the opportunity to learn from the Armed Forces.
In a bid to boost army recruitment, under-25s will reportedly be able to access a new gap year military programme in March this year. Modelled on a similar initiative in Australia, the government scheme will kick off with a small cohort of 150, with hopes that it will eventually reach at least 1,000 every year. Young civilians will not be required to commit full-time, but those who choose to stay with the Armed Forces can receive additional training to be deployed on operations.
The scheme will introduce young people to life in the military but should also equip them with transferable skills should they decide not to enlist. Amid the cost-of-living crisis, under-15s may be incentivised by opportunities that could help them make that all-important first step in life.
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Speaking to the Mirror, Professor Anthony Glees, an expert on European affairs from The University of Buckingham, said: "We can afford to offer our young people fabulous inducements to commit to a year's national service, for example, cheap loans for mortgages, free university and college places.
"In the National Security Strategy, the Prime Minister says we need to 'unleash a defence dividend, to use national security to strengthen our country'. Exactly so. That dividend is not simply AI and IT; it is our young people who need to understand that their future liberty relies on their willingness to serve. That is where conscription comes in."
This comes following Russia's branding of British soldiers as "legitimate military targets" while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron signed a new plan to establish military "hubs" in Ukraine if a deal was to take place.
In a chilling statement, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Britain and British allies of planning to "continue the militarisation of Ukraine", asserting: "The Russian Foreign Ministry warns that the deployment of military units and the setting-up of military facilities, storages and other Western infrastructure on Ukrainian territory will be qualified as foreign intervention that directly threatens the security of Russia and other European countries."
