Military expert issues National Service return verdict as Andy Burnham given WW3 warning

A former Royal Navy Commodore has issued her verdict on the prospect of a new National Service in Britain. A House of Commons research briefing stated that conscription can be defined as the "mandatory enlistment of people in their national Armed Forces", adding that it operated in Britain between 1916 and 1920, and between 1939 and 1960. The last serviceman was discharged in May 1963. Now, some are calling for its return in the face of aggression from nations hostile to the West.

Retired Commodore Steve Prest told the Express that conflict with Russia is more likely today than at any other time since the height of the Cold War, but added: "I think National Service is a bit of a red herring, to be honest." He also said that "there are very few people around now who actually did National Service", and, as regards baby boomers, some of whom would like to see a return of National Service, their parents served, "but they didn't".

"So I think it's a bit of a totem," Commodore Prest said, "and I think everyone's got a bit of a sort of Dad's Army view. It was all pretty miserable, to be honest. And I think the problem is, National Service like that is quite inefficient, actually." He suggested that working out how to accommodate Brits into the armed forces would be a challenge, and selecting who and how many should be taken on from the general public. He wondered whether the Government would want "everyone who is fit enough to do it, or just a proportion of the population".

The former Navy man asked: "How do you select them? Do you make it sufficiently attractive that if you come and do your National Service, we pay for your university tuition fees? So, suddenly, there's a fight for everyone to get in." Commodore Prest added: "If you end up with, say, a couple of hundred thousand young people a year doing it, well, who's going to run it? Who's going to train them? Who's going to employ them? "Who's going to manage them?

He's going to lead them. And actually, what you need to do is grow your regular armed forces to be bigger, so you've got the officers and the senior NCOs, who can actually lead and run that scheme. And without a proposal to do that, what are we actually talking about here? What are these people going to do? Where are they going to live? "I mean, are we talking about a massive expansion? Do we need another 200,000 or 300,000 beds in the military estate in single living accommodation?

Well, what sort of investment does that need? And who's going to do it and where's it going to come from?" National Service might sound "attractive", the expert said, then you have to "start thinking through what it would actually take to implement it at any scale". "We could do it," he added. "Of course we could. But are we, as a nation, saying? [...] How are we going to pay for it? If everyone thinks National Service is such a good idea, let's put two pence on everyone's Income Tax, on the basic rate, and we'll use that to pay for it.

Does everyone still think it's a good idea? I bet you they wouldn't. So the conversation around this, to me, is always really superficial." Instead, more attention should be paid to cadet forces and the Scout movement, Commodore Prest suggested, as they provide "brilliant skills and opportunities" and ensure young people get leadership training and learn self-discipline and self-respect. Former soldier and Conservative minister, Tobias Ellwood thinks differently.

He wrote for the Express at the weekend : "Our enemies understand something we seem determined to ignore: modern warfare doesn't just target soldiers. It targets society itself. "We need a modern National Service , designed not for the wars of yesterday, but for the threats of tomorrow. Finland and Sweden offer National Service models we should follow. Yes, we need more military reserves. But we also need young people trained in cyber defence, drone technology, emergency response, protecting infrastructure, engineering and safeguarding vital supply chains.

"Imagine Britain without electricity, water or communications for 72 hours. Who would keep our communities functioning? An eight-month National Service programme for 18-year-olds, followed by annual refresher training, could build a generation equipped to defend and support their country across the full spectrum of modern threats."