Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for the return of national service in a modernised form to strengthen Britain's resilience following a series of cyber attacks on supermarket chillers across Europe. Writing in The Times, Sunak argued that "we all need to become more aware of the threats we face" after the digital disruption affected food supplies.
Proposal for a resilience corps
Sunak, a former Conservative leader, said Britain is short of frontline protection and proposed "some kind of resilience corps" to shield communities from hybrid warfare. He acknowledged that reviving the original Cold War model would be "impractical" for today's challenges.
National service originally began in Britain in 1949, requiring young men aged 17 to 21 to serve for 18 months. Military chiefs later extended this to two years before the scheme was scrapped in 1963, after two million people had served.
Details of the plan
Sunak conceded that the armed forces had previously stressed they lacked the capacity to train more than 800,000 18-year-olds. He said: "Whenever I raised national service as Prime Minister, the armed forces were quick to stress that this kind of scheme wouldn't help them: they don't have the capacity to take on and train more than 800,000 18-year-olds."
He added: "What is actually required is an updated version of national service designed to enhance our resilience, strengthen our society and remind us all that citizenship brings with it responsibilities as well as rights."
Under his blueprint, recruits could "apply for a small, selective military cadre, others serve with search and rescue, St John Ambulance or Meals on Wheels and some train in areas such as cybersecurity".
International comparisons and Labour response
Sunak noted that France and Germany are both taking steps towards launching their own schemes. He also pointed to Sweden's model, where 97 per cent of 18-year-olds attend their muster assessment.
He argued the plan could give nearly one million young people not in education, employment or training a sense of purpose. However, Labour dismissed the proposal. A Labour Party spokesperson said: "This is not a plan - it's a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories hollowed out the Armed Forces to their smallest size since Napoleon."
