The UK government has been advised to consider bringing back conscription – leaving numerous people wondering whether they would be called up to fight.
Britain’s declining soldier numbers have sparked panic among experts in national security, with one former commander warning that the country would be virtually defenceless were Vladimir Putin to launch a direct attack. Following significant cuts to the MoD that began in 2010, just over 72,000 regular forces personnel now serve in the British Army—the lowest number since the Napoleonic Wars.
One touted solution to this shortfall has been to reintroduce conscription, meaning ordinary citizens would be drafted in for compulsory military training and put on ‘standby’ for future deployment. Numerous other countries in Europe do it, including Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, but the UK hasn’t had any form of conscription since National Service ended in 1963. Here, we answer some questions about conscription and what it would mean for you.
When Britain introduced conscription in the months leading up to World War II, unmarried men aged between 20 and 22 were required to undertake six months of military training, resulting in 240,000 being called up. But when war was announced following Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland, the age range was immediately widened to any man aged 18 to 41. Exemptions were given to men who were too unfit medically, or who worked in vital industries like baking, farming, and medicine, which were essential to the war effort.
By the end of 1941, women and all childless widows between the ages of 20 and 30 were required to do work related to the war effort, while men aged up to 51 were called up for military service. Even men aged 52 to 60 were required to take part in “some form of military service”.
After the war, National Service required all healthy males aged 17 to 21 to serve in the armed forces for 18 months, along with a four-year reserve period. This generally involved training at a barracks based within the UK.
The UK has never drafted in women to serve in direct combat – but recent polling indicates the public believes that this should change if World War III ever broke out. A YouGov poll found that 72 percent supported women being conscripted as well as men, in the event of the measure ever being reintroduced.
Despite the ominous warnings of the world now being in a “pre-war” state, the same YouGov poll also found that numerous young people would be unwilling to fight for their country – even if Britain was about to be invaded.
About 38 percent of under-40s said they would refuse to serve in the armed forces if World War III broke out, and 30 percent would not serve even if the UK faced “imminent invasion”.
In World War II, ‘conscientious objectors’ who were within the conscription age but refused to fight were taken to court, and many were given mandatory jobs to contribute to the war effort in other ways.
The shaky attempts by Donald Trump to achieve peace in Ukraine have left many concerned that Vladimir Putin will feel emboldened to attack Europe again, potentially pulling the UK into a major war. As the US weakens its support for Ukraine and Russia rejects ceasefire agreements, former top brass have warned that Britain must prepare to conscript if things escalate – or risk surrendering quickly.
Colonel Hamish De Bretton Gordon, who used to lead the British Army’s Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, told the Sun: “The government should rule nothing out at the moment. I can’t see how an army of just 70,000 is going to be able to deter Russia in the long term and maintain the mass it needs. If you look at the size of our regular Army, it’s tiny and they’d find it difficult to deploy a brigade for any period of time”. Sir Richard Shirreff, a former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, meanwhile said that the British government should be prepared to “think the unthinkable” and begin a “selective” form of conscription.
The Government has said there are no plans for any form of conscription in the UK. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the News Agents podcast on Thursday that “nobody is talking about conscription” and that such a proposal has “never crossed my lips”.
I don’t think the discipline and hardship of conscription would be mentally manageable for today’s young men. Additionally, our educational system has shaped them into woke, left-wing, weak warriors. Who wants to fight for a government that has no allegiance to a broken Britain and mocks the working class?
This country has been broken for an extremely long time and the youths of today know nothing about hard work, respect and the checklist goes on.
I don’t believe that our teenagers would suffer any negative effects from National Service, and it’s about time our government learned that not only would National Service strengthen our forces numbers, but perhaps it would infuse some much-needed discipline and pride.
This is not only about Ukraine – we, all of us, are entering into menacing and scary times, and like it or not, we can’t just roll over and act like this is not happening.
Due to a severe shortage of troops, the UK is unable to defend itself, let alone other nations.
There is nothing for young people to do these days, so National Service would be a terrific way to get them off the streets, teach them about the proper way to live and earn them some respect.
Mind you, what exactly would these youngsters be signing up to defend?
A bygone parliamentary system where the first chamber doesn’t represent the percentage of votes cast, an unelected second chamber that is not representative of the population and is chosen by this first chamber, an unelected head of state that has no actual political power they are there by accident of birth and a financial system that is set up to enable tax dodging in ‘overseas territories’ which have no representation in parliament whatsoever.
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