Rishi Sunak’s announcement of national service for 18-year-olds faced a torrent of criticism and ridicule over the weekend, but at least singer and former army man James Blunt is riding to his rescue.
“We all know it’s not going to happen, but I think the concept — to understand a bit about serving your community — is not a bad idea,” he told the Hay Festival yesterday.
Before he got a record deal, Blunt served in the Army for six years and was a British officer during the Kosovo War.
“The greatest thing about the Army is that we worked together as a team, people from all corners of the UK, and that was a huge benefit,” he said.
“I’m a posh twat and these people were salt of the earth. A guy from Newcastle who would otherwise be nicking cars is in the Army, and I know he’s going to be able to hot-wire my tank to get out of a situation. Likewise, he knows that when we come across the enemy, I’m going to be able to chat my way out of the situation.”
Under the PM’s national service proposal, 18-year-olds would have to enroll in a training programme with the Army for a year or volunteer for community service.
Blunt attended Harrow, the £50,000-a-year boarding school which counts Benedict Cumberbatch and Winston Churchill as alumni. While serving in Kosovo he had his guitar strapped to the tank and would sometimes bring it out and sing for the troops.
Blunt was at the Hay Festival to talk about his “non-memoir”, Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story.
