James Cleverly: no one will go to jail over national service

Well, Rishi Sunak’s new flagship policy of reintroducing national service has certainly gone off with a bang this morning. The policy, announced last night, would see 18-year-olds given the option of applying for a military post, or spending one weekend every month for a year working for the fire services, police, the NHS, or local charities. According to the Conservative party the scheme will be mandatory. 

What happens though if young people refuse to take part? It seemed initially at least the Tories were feeling bullish about cracking down on any absconding youths, with a leaked internal Q&A from the Conservatives suggesting that the party wasn’t ruling out arresting 18-year-olds dodging their civic duty. 

Home Secretary James Cleverly dampened down those suggestions though when he appeared on Sky News this morning. Asked what will happen to young people who refuse to take part, Cleverly confirmed that there would be ‘no criminal sanctions’, with ‘no one going to jail over this’.