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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics

National service? Will it be monkey tennis next in this meme election?

British national service recruits pack their kit before being deployed in Korea in 1952
British national service recruits pack their kit before being deployed in Korea in 1952. Photograph: PA

Bringing back national service is not a policy, it is a meme (Rishi Sunak’s national service pledge is ‘bonkers’, says ex-military chief, 26 May). The Conservatives might as well have announced a fully funded project to “string ’em up”.

James Cleverly has suggested recalcitrant teenagers could be working weekends as emergency health responders and special constables. How will the ambulance service deal with someone they must spend resources on training, who is unable or unwilling to contribute? Perhaps refuseniks can be press-ganged into building a wall along the Kent coast so we may make Britain great again.

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