UK Politics @feddit.uk david @feddit.uk 6mo ago

‘No one going to jail’ for avoiding UK national service, says Cleverly

www.theguardian.com ‘No one going to jail’ for avoiding UK national service, says Cleverly

Home secretary says teenagers will not face criminal sanction if they refuse to join military or do volunteer work

So.... not compulsory then? Or do you just get fined or something? Anyway, earliest policy U-turn of the Conservative campaign so far - will it be their best?

28 comments

"punishable by a fine" == the rich can buy their way out of it.
- Yep. If a fine doesn't scale with wealth, then it's just a fee for doing illegal shit.
  
  I don't have the skills.
  
  But now really wish someone would hack a few tory social media accounts. And post claims the fine will be based on the family wealth of the avoider
  
  Tory voters would suffer mass heart attacks when they calculate what it will cost to free their Tarquins.
- They always have.
Mandatory volunteer work? Isn't that an oxymoron?
- That is what happens when you don't discuss your policy decisions with anyone and just say random crap.
- ‘Conservative’ ‘government’
- Yeah you don't need the oxy. Its just normal tory crap. But they have a habit of making their moronic claims work.
This is just a ridiculous throwaway policy designed to appeal to easily enraged pensioners and keep them voting Conservative.

Those are basically the only voters the Conservatives have left.
Of course it'd be a fine, that means only the poors have to go die "for their country"..
Also, this plan will never happen as we will be out of office on July 5th and Sunak will be living in California by July 30th, says Dimly . . .
- Assuming all the older folks don't vote for this crap.
  
  Honestly I'm 53 myself. But many folks older then me are really keen on this. As they were required to do military service up to the 60s. And see it as having been beneficial. (Nostenga is one hell of a drug)
  
  And while I have never been a fan of the idea. (Our military dose not need ill motivated cannon fodder).
  
  Many my age do seem to thinkmits a good idea.
  
  So it may motivate many annoyed tory voters who have been distanced.
  
  Just like the disabled policies and immigration. The tories are basically picking on people that are less likely to vote tory. (The youth) and trying to launch a culture war with folks more likely to vote tory.
  
  So please, do not get to confident. The tories are good at this sort of crap. Do not count them out until they are dead.
  
  And please make every effort to convince your friend they need to vote.
  
  Now even safe seats are no longer safe. Voting for a non tory pole leader in normal tory safe seats. May well kick a tory MP to the kerb.
  
  EDIT: Do not count them out until they are dead.
  
  I just want to make sure no one reads that as a suggestion to kill a tory MP.
  
  While I may not cry if someone did. I want my rear end well and trully covered. So amnin no way recommending such actions.
  
  Seriosly just take thiere jobs on July 4th. Force them to prostitute themselves to the wealthy friends they have been supporting for the last 14 years. Those guys are pretty sick so justice will be served.
  
  They'd need to be pretty old. My parents were born in the 50s - so avoided national service - and they are in their 70s now. Is the average tory voter older than them?
- After the last decade or so, I'm not putting anything past the voting public. I'll celebrate the Tories being out of power when the election results are read out, and not a moment before.
So a fine. And when poverty stricken youngsters fail to pay that fine. Removal directly from their benifits. Or garnish wages.

So basically a cheap pass for the wealthy. Screw the poor as normal.

Edit: What makes this worse. Its just more of the tories trying to ignite another culture war.

They picked on disabled as after 14 years of crap. Few sane disabled people have any hope of voting tory. So let's use them as a victim to convince everyone they are scroungers.

Now rather then trying to inspire the young to vote tory. They attack them with oxymoron mandatory vollenteer work. In an attempt to win back boomer votes who see all youth entitled and as in need of teaching a lesson.

Rather then admit the harm the last 40 plus years of voting, has done to the future of our youth.

And honestly as a 53yo. It is not like the current housing costs and climate crap. Has not been predicted since the 1970s. Voters my age and older have been working to ignore this for generations.
- "Nobody will go to jail for refusing national service. You'll get a fine instead."
  
  "What happens if you can't or won't pay the fine?"
  
  "You go to jail."
  
  Honestly not that likely. As courts can order a garnesment.
  
  Fines nowadays tend to result in taking from you benifits or wages. Of course costs the poor forced into this more.
So they just issue fines? Thats how the rich will pay their kids out of the "mandatory" service.
Oh look immediate backlash
This has been such a clusterfuck. An unbelievable own goal when you thought things couldn't get worse for them.
- It's pure distraction, everyone is arguing about this and not talking about their terrible record in government.
Typical bullshit, he wealthy can dodge the draft.
Hilarious to have to issue this clarification.
In the first major policy announcement of his election campaign, Rishi Sunak pledged to introduce a form of mandatory national service whereby 18-year-olds would either join the military for 12 months or do volunteer work at weekends.

Even if it was compulsory, 12 months training and being shot doesn't seem a great option compared to weekend voluntary work.

I could see an argument for a year of something like a Green Corps for a year at 18 that would give everyone a collective experience helping improve the country (rewilding, working on local parks, etc) but throwing in National Service too just seems like pandering to the gammon vote.
- I wish there was a meaningful civilian corps in my country. The military tends to offer two selling points:
  
  Employer of last resort that takes most-all comers
  
  Disciplined, all-inclusive experience
  
  which would be valuable for many young adults, but there's no reason we can't get a similar model without the whole "die for hegemony/oil/to impress rightwong voters that you're tough" factor. Surely we've got plenty of Corps of Engineers atyle grunt work thete.
  
  We sorta do in the UK. Cameron set one up with his big society claim. He even claimed he'd consider making it mandatory for teenagers.
  
  Issue is it is funded as well as any service under the tories.

28 comments