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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Eleni Courea and Aletha Adu

Rishi Sunak’s national service pledge is ‘bonkers’, says ex-military chief

Soldiers marching on parade
Adm Alan West, former chief of the naval staff, said the plan would deplete the defence budget. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex Features

Britain’s armed forces need more money not untrained teenage volunteers, former military leaders and Tory figures have said in a new blow to the Conservatives’ faltering election campaign.

Within hours of being announced, Rishi Sunak’s election pledge to bring back military service for 18-year-olds was rubbished by army chiefs and a former Conservative defence secretary.

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