Senior government advisors are mounting pressure on the Prime Minister to take action to boost Britain's defensiveness, reviving the debate over mandatory national service. Rumours are swirling that both young men and women could be called up, echoing the post-war period of 1949 to 1963 when over two million British men aged 17 to 21 were conscripted.
Former NATO chief Lord George Robertson has warned that Britain is "underprepared" for an attack and called for a Swedish-style national service. Sweden's system mobilises all able-bodied civilians aged 16 to 70, potentially fielding between 88,000 and 120,000 personnel in a crisis. Lord Robertson argued that given the nature of modern threats, there is a case for national service, and expressed disappointment that defence readiness was not on the King's Speech agenda.
British pacifists have resisted any mandatory military service. The National Union for Students slammed the Conservative Party's 2024 election pledge to bring back national service as "regressive and ridiculous", stating that no one should be forced to go to war, especially given the UK's imperial history.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has dismissed the plans as a "gimmick" but faces increasing pressure from officials warning of dangerous complacency in defence. Starmer argues that the government is rapidly increasing defence spending, but critics demand the release of the spending review detailing revamped defensive tactics, originally due last autumn.
