At your service
Sir: National service is a contentious issue with many people including the Armed Forces themselves (‘Identity crisis’, 1 June). National community service might be a far better option whereby everyone reaching the age of 18 would spend a year working in a care home, hospital, day nursery, park, graffiti cleaning, litter clearance and so on – all areas in which help is badly needed.
We have a generation of young people badly affected by Covid isolation and screen addiction and this might help them feel more integrated into society.
The discipline of having to be at work on time every day, the banning of screens during working hours and the realisation that there are many people in the world with problems maybe worse than theirs might equip them rather better for the workplace – which may indeed ultimately include serving with the Armed Forces.
Jenny Fitz Gerald
Gascony
Fat chance
Sir: Max Pemberton was absolutely right when it comes to the cost of the weight-loss drug Ozempic (‘Tipping the scales’, 1 June).
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