Ahead of the General Election on July 4, the Prime Minister has outlined plans to introduce a form of national service.

Rishi Sunak’s proposal would see young people given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces, or carrying out community volunteer work one weekend, a month, for a year.

He added volunteering could entail helping services such as the NHS, the police, or the fire service.

National service in the country was previously abolished in 1960 after being set up in the wake of World War 2.

According to the Royal British Legion, between the end of the Second World War and May 1963, more than two million men took part in national service.

The Prime Minister said the policy would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world” and give young people a “shared sense of purpose”.

Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, Home Secretary James Cleverly confirmed that teenagers would not be jailed for refusing to take part in the proposed scheme.

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Mr Cleverly said the plans were aimed at getting young people “out of their bubble” and would not involve the threat of criminal sanctions for those who refuse to comply.

Labour criticised the scheme with shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall branding the announcement a “headline-grabbing gimmick”.

Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey said: “The Conservative’s election gambit on compulsory national service is an undeliverable plan and a distraction from their failures in defence over the last 14 years.”

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