£2.5 billion: The price tag for Rishi Sunak's national service plans for 18-year-olds
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised to bring back a form of national service if the Conservatives win the general election.
Under the plans, 18-year-olds would have a choice of either joining the military full-time for 12 months or volunteering one weekend a month doing community service with organisations like the fire service, the police or the NHS.
It estimates the programme will cost £2.5bn a year by the end of the decade and plans to fund £1bn through plans to "crack down on tax avoidance and evasion".
The remaining £1.5bn will be paid for with money previously used for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which is a package to support charities and community groups, the Conservatives said.
The Prime Minister said: "This is a great country but generations of young people have not had the opportunities or experience they deserve and there are forces trying to divide our society in this increasingly uncertain world.
"I have a clear plan to address this and secure our future. I will bring in a new model of national service to create a shared sense of purpose among our young people and a renewed sense of pride in our country.
"This new, mandatory national service will provide life-changing opportunities for our young people, offering them the chance to learn real-world skills, do new things and contribute to their community and our country."
In future, 18-year-olds would be given a choice between a full-time placement in the Armed Forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year volunteering in their community, the Conservatives said.
The plans are aimed at building a society where people "mix outside of their bubble, whether it's through military service, other uniformed service or non-uniformed", James Cleverly said.
Asked on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme whether the consequences of resisting the compulsory scheme could involve a prison term, the Home Secretary said: "No, there's going to be no criminal sanction. There's no one going to jail over this."
Opposition critics dismissed the plans as unserious, with Labour saying the pledge would never come to fruition and amounted to "another unfunded commitment".
A Labour spokesperson said: "This is not a plan – it's a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories hollowed out the Armed Forces to their smallest size since Napoleon."
Under the plans a royal commission would be established to bring in expertise from across the military and civil society to establish the details of what they described as the "bold" national service programme.
Teenagers who choose to sign up for a placement in the forces would "learn and take part in logistics, cyber security, procurement or civil response operations", the Conservatives said.
The party said this commission would be tasked with bringing forward a proposal for how to ensure the first pilot is open for applications in September 2025.
After that, it would seek to introduce a new National Service Act to make the measures compulsory by the end of the next Parliament, the party said.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Richard Foord MP said: "If the Conservatives were serious about defence, they would reverse their damaging cuts to our world class professional Armed Forces, instead of decimating them, with swingeing cuts to the number of our regular service personnel.
"Our Armed Forces were once the envy of the world. This Conservative government has cut troop numbers and is planning more cuts to the size of the Army.
"This would be far better spent reversing Conservative cuts to troop numbers."
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