General Election 2024

Yes.

Weren't they meant to be learning maths at 18? Will the army be doing maths lessons?

More to align themselves with the boomers who see themselves as d-day veterans.

The debates, if they happen, will be quite boring and stage managed is my guess. Should just speed run to the inevitable early morning tory "we were never really behind Sunak anyway" conclusion.

Reading in to it, the volunteer roles are around 'community resilience' - volunteering for the RNLI, being an emergency responder etc., so nothing too serious or requiring a training programme.

This (thanks Cameron and Osbourne!)

National Citizenship Service was a Cameron project that exemplified centralised government approach. Rather than work with existing charities doing the same thing, it’s better to fund and launch something new and shiny instead while reducing funding across the sector and telling charities to shut up/not be critical or political.

Yeah I get that the mandatory bit is the hard bit to stomach.

I believe some of the Nordic countries do this public service while yoofs things. Maybe it's a few hours a week alongside studies.

I'm just outside the demographic that this would affect so actually maybe someone should be asking them what they think should happen.

The whole idea is a non starter tbh.

Nigel Farage calls Tory National Service plans "a joke" and "totally impractical"

Just to clarify my comment a little, if labour were in power with the majority that they’re expected to have … nothing lasts forever.

My hypothetical is that which is preferable, letting the tories in at the next election and losing another 15 years, or moving away from FPP to ensure there is always more balance at the expense of absolute power.

I guess I see electoral change as the Labour equivalent of boundary changes. Just depends what they hate less, being in Opposition or being part of a broader coalition.

War time mythology is rife amongst certain groups but they can’t deal with the reality…the reality being that by 1944, Britain was virtually bankrupt and somewhat of a bit player in the events in the European theatre….but even when the British punch above their weight such as in Burma in 1944/5 against the Japanese, it is neither remember nor respected.

And they (Tory strategists, Rentoul of the Independent) think Sunak is a brilliant debater…He is nothing of the sort…thin skinned, tetchy, arrogant, smug and totally out of touch…He ain’t ‘reading the room’.

He’s still better at debating than meeting the public, it’s all relative I suppose

That is a very very low bar as his debating skills are very poor!

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lol.

The whole National Service take by the Tories is absolutely pathetic.. their manifesto is a desperate end of days in a dysfunctional society, and they will do their best to blame everyone else after 14 years of elitist ideaology.

In 38 years of voting age, I have never considered the Tories ever whilst living in Camden, Merton, Wandsworth, Richmond, Camden (again), Westminster, Newham

There are credible accounts that Mr Sunak has become increasingly
querulous with aides and colleagues over the past few months as
nothing he has tried has moved the dial. He’s looked like a man
trapped by diminishing time, undermined by mutinous colleagues and
almost totally ignored by the voters. Not the master of his own fate.
By choosing to go earlier than anticipated, he played the last card in
his hand to take the initiative and command events, albeit only
fleetingly. I am also quite persuaded by those who say that it was a
fit of despairing anger by someone who can no longer bear doing the
job. Living under a decomposing regime is not a pleasant experience
for those being ruled by it. Presiding over one must be miserable as
well. It turns out that the prime minister was among those yearning to
escape the purgatory of zombie government.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/26/rishi-sunak-summer-election-gamble-is-already-backfiring-on-the-tory-leader

I have worked in the Construction Industry since I was sixteen, we had a chronic trade skills shortage before Brexit..

• Are there enough apprentice schemes going on?
  
• Do we need 18yo in University education?
  
• What currency does a degree have today anyway?
  
  

@snowy_again

'community resilience' - volunteering for the RNLI, being an emergency responder etc.

how many 18 year olds are going to commit to serving the community and for how long.

If the Tories won the next general election on that policy alone, we’d have draft dodgers and wealthy families trying to buy their kids out of any scheme.

the indolent retired who love the idea of National Service

Comfortably bitching about it at the pub instead of in a hospice or a food kitchen says it all.

Sorry but across your posts I can't tell whether you're for or against some sort of community service style national service - but either way its tough to stomach someone who won't be affected it by it using terms like draft dodger or judging people for trying to get out of it.

Fundamentally the reason this policy is so utterly unpalatable in any form in 2024 is the fact that its boomers yet again acting like a bunch of entitled idiots

You have to be at least 83 to have done national service (it ended in 1960…I was 4) but like my father in law, those at university didn’t do their NS…I am retired (68) and I didn’t do NS and i don’t like the idea of NS and to be fair neither do the military either.

If those refusing aren’t sent to prison for not doing NS (Jimmy Dimly) then it can’t be ‘mandatory’ and therefore it is a joke!

In case anyone is in doubt, I am totally against the idea and wholeheartedly agree with stappard’s concluding paragraph.

And the photographer only had to move slightly to get the money shot

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^ Strong The Thick of It energy

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Plus this

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Or on lfgss

National service was described as a bad idea on Thursday by the minister responsible.

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