Last week I was asked by my school to take part in a mock General Election. I was a representative of the Labour party and I had to make a speech convincing years 7 to 10 to vote for the Conservative party.During my research on the Conservative party's manifesto, I came across the proposal for introducing national service. This policy soon became a particularly controversial topic amongst 17-18 year olds complaining about this service so I will explain my views on this policy as well as acknowledging the political and economic implications of this policy. The National Service would entail either full time military service  for an entire year or community service work every weekend .This would be funded by the government attempting to suppress and prevent tax evasion. The government is also prepared to spend 2.5 % of GDP on defence which is the the greatest amount of money that has been spent on this sector in this generation.

I believe that National Service would be beneficial to the country as it prepares the UK for the possibility of a war and ensures that those who are less fortunate are aided through community service.Whilst it may seem scary to think of a chance that a war could occur, the reality is that it is becoming more and more likely, with the ongoing war in Ukraine and the improvements in nuclear and AI-driven weaponry across the world.Whilst having a strong army with large numbers of soldiers is an advantage if they are ever needed ,merely showing to enemies the capabilities of the British army may deter them from directly attacking the UK as they may not have an army as established as us. This may prevent possible smaller conflicts directly between the UK and other countries saving resources such as equipment, weaponry and even saving some soldiers lives.Furthermore,I was speaking to my father who grew up in the Czech Republic.For him and his friends, military service was compulsory at 18 and this was seen as a part of daily life due to this being a rule in place since World War Two.Currently, other countries such as Isreal also have an established military service further demonstrating the effectiveness the policy could have. Despite times changing, this policy has worked and been widely accepted by people in the past and present, so ‘Gen-z’s’ and future generations should also be able to cope with this and it would therefore be a good policy to implement.

The other option of community service is a plausible policy as it means that there is a great increase in volunteering in places such as the NHS, food banks and other community services.This will help increase the efficiency of these services so they can help more people which will have wider economic implications. For example if the NHS has more volunteers people can get the help they need quicker which will mean they can return to work quicker and will also be more productive in their jobs increasing output and causing economic growth.Community service will also give young people a taste of what it is like to actually work for the public sector and it may encourage them to work there in the future improving the quality of service provided in the future and ensuring the prosperity of these services.

It can be argued that the military aspect has certain moral and social implications.Speaking to my peers about their feelings towards this policy, they explained they feared that they would actually have to be drafted to the military and risk losing their lives, yet they also brought up the issue that in the year they are away their progression in higher education and their career may be halted.Being part of the army is physically and emotionally demanding which some may say is too much for an 18 year old to handle,especially the possibility that if they are drafted, they will have to fight and may end up killing someone which can cause PTSD and other long term mental health.Furthermore,as humans have free will and this may be denied from the people forced to take part as they have no other option and it promotes a sense of nationalism that constraints people who may not fully believe in these ideologies.

 Moving on, the national service will have a huge cost to the country.The 2.5 billion that will be allocated to the service may not be enough to allow all 18 year olds in the country to go on the service.The country must be prepared to face the opportunity cost of this and possibly spend less in other areas such as benefits and the NHS.However, the NHS may gain a significant amount of more volunteers which may mean that the healthcare sector may not feel the effects of a lack of funding.

Overall, this proposed policy that may come into play if the Conservatives stay in power, is one that can benefit the country as a whole. With the ever growing presence of advanced weaponry and tensions rising between world powers, the need for a strong army and society  is what the national service could help create.Community service can also help the government to improve the efficiency of public sectors and also change young people's perceptions of certain roles/jobs in these sectors. Despite the policy proving to be costly, the Conservative has proposed funding it by cracking down on tax evasion among other things .Whether the National Service does actually occur is ultimately dependant on the upcoming  election result and whether the Conservatives would actually implement this policy given its apparent controversies .If this does happen then I do think this policy would benefit Britain greatly.

Reference:

https://www.conservatives.com/announcements/rishi-sunak-announces-national-service-policy