As international tensions rise and UK army numbers dwindle, experts warn that conscription could become a reality if World War III breaks out. While Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated that 'nobody is talking about conscription,' former MP and ex-British Army officer Dr Mike Martin has cautioned that it may be necessary. 'Obviously if we got into a big war, we’d have conscription straight away,' Dr Martin told Big Issue last year.
General Sir Patrick Sanders also warned the Government last year that they should be preparing Britons for conscription 'within six years' if Vladimir Putin continues to threaten warfare. According to a report by the Express, five groups would be most likely to be called up.
Young men aged 21 and 22 were conscripted even before war broke out in 1939, and the pool was later widened to men aged 18 to 41. During World War II, single people without children were drafted first to avoid disrupting families. Women have never been drafted into combat, but they took on nursing, munitions, and auxiliary roles in WWII. A recent YouGov poll found that 72% of Britons support women serving on the frontlines.
Former soldiers and reservists, who already possess military skills, are high on the list of those who would be called upon. Aging out of the conscription bracket may not be an option; at the end of WWII, people aged up to 51 were being conscripted, and those aged 52 to 60 took on civil defence roles.
