National service plan to get youngsters 'out of their bubble'
National service plan 'will get young people out of their bubble'
Just now Jennifer McKiernan , BBC political reporter , @_JennyMcKiernan Share
PA Media
National service would engage young people in society again, Home Secretary James Cleverly has told the BBC, adding "too many young people live in their own bubble". The Conservatives have set out a pledge for all 18-year-olds to take part in a mandatory scheme for military or non-military service if they win the general election. Mr Cleverly said it would "address the fragmentation in society" - but added that sending people to jail for not taking part was not an option. Labour said said the plan was "a desperate gimmick" with no viable funding.
Mr Cleverly told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme the move was about "coming together". "It's about addressing the fragmentation that we have seen in society," he said. "Too many young people are living in their own bubble, whether that's a digital bubble or a social bubble. "We want to get back to a situation where young people are mixing with people - in different areas, different economic groups, different religions - to try and find a way of addressing the kind of fragmentation that we see too much of." The Conservatives say the scheme would involve 30,000 selective military placements where "the brightest and best" would get involved in cyber security, logistics, or civil response operations full-time for a year. Everyone else would do 25 days, or one weekend a month for a year, with non-military organisations including the fire service, the police, the NHS or charities. The armed forces placements were "a small element" of the plan, Mr Cleverly said, as "nobody will be compelled to do the military bit". "There's going to be no criminal sanction - There's no one going to jail over this," he told Sky News. Mr Cleverly insisted the plan was "fully funded", with £1.5bn diverted from levelling up's UK Shared Prosperity Fund from 2028. A further £1bn would come from plans to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion.
Appearing on the same programme, Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "This is just another gimmick, a desperate gimmick from the Conservative Party with no viable means of funding it. "One minute they say levelling up is really important, then they raid the levelling up budget and say it's going to be used for national service. "This is just another example, I'm afraid of a gimmick, where the sums don't add up."
