UK Election!

Sunak doing his best to destroy the tories youth vote is so on the money

https://x.com/WhitbyHarvey/status/1794841045588689186?t=cb0QT9s6wP-cohUJe1tjGQ&s=19

If an 18 year old gets a job and starts paying taxes isn’t that enough of a contribution to society?

National Service will be forgotten by Monday.

It wasn’t even an idea last Thursday. In fact it was the opposite of an idea – asked in Parliament about it the Defence Minister said there were no plans for National Service as it it would ‘damage morale, recruitment and retention and consume professional military and naval resources’. That was the Defence Minister, on Thursday, before Sunday morning’s big announcement. So thats how much thought has gone into this – absolutely none.

Theres no need for this to be a good idea, or for the idea to be thought out, or even to be able to be clear what the idea even is. It’s an announcement of something they know will never happen.  The Tories can’t win this election so they are trying to work out the best way to lose it. Announcements like this aim to appeal to the voters who are leaving them for Reform. Why they want those votes I’ve no idea other than it being easy to just make stuff up that you think they’ll like.

Sunak doing his best to destroy the tories youth vote

What’s tremendously short sighted about all this…. Sunak and co are looking at segments of society – young voters don’t vote tory, older ones are more likley to and they are looking at them as if they are exclusive groups. Young voters aren’t all orphans – they’ve got parents, and grandparents who vote too.

There was a time when at general elections Labour would darkly hint that a vote for the Tories might bring back national service. The Tories would fervently deny the suggestion and rightly dismiss it as Labour scaremongering.

It was a bit like the popular and longstanding myth that the Tories want to bring back hanging.

So to say I am a tad surprised that the first Tory policy announcement of the 2024 general election is the reintroduction of national service would not be an exaggeration.

Deliberately trying to lose latest

https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/1795001126728733043?t=sVGt2db6fSz2GbDN4kAmAA&s=19

National Service?

Wow, this isn’t even desperation any more. The Tories are just leaning on the ropes and willing it to all be over ASAP.

Good.

This general election campaign is becoming a bit like Christmas……… what present will the Tories give Labour next?

Exciting stuff. I’m looking forward to each new day!

I’m wondering whether the Tories are actually trying to stop Reform more than beat Labour. This national service idea will no doubt appeal to the headbangers, and more of this sort of nonsense could mean they cling on in previously safe(ish) seats where a split Tory/Reform vote would lose their majority.

Surely the national Service will happen when they’re 18? It’ll be hard to make their parents take legal responsibility at that age.

Plus a fine means that essentially it’ll only be mandatory for lower income families.

Having not been following the news this weekend, seeing a post on-line, I had to go check the BBC – – National Service….

Desparation for the ‘old duffers’ votes, or signing their own P45 ?

My FIL did National Service (died aged 79 about 8 years ago).  He was wise enough to not be the ‘crack shot’ he was and deliberately didn’t get good shooting scores, so he got a ‘less active’ posting.  My granded was in the Medical side in WW2 and ended up as a Japanese POW – he never talked about it – he’d never talk about it even when we had ‘homework’ from School and asked questions.

BIL was in the Navy for a few years (what ever the minimum is – 4-5 years ?). He goes on about it, being in the Faulklands etc and does all the Parades, even to this day. He actually never saw active service, arriving in the Faulklands after the War – still got his medal though. He did the bear minimum, but it’s like he’s some war hero !

bear minimum

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My useless ERG Tory MP was on R4 this morning talking about the National Service BS.

I think she is the 1st one that has suggested that parents will be fined for the actions of their adult children.

How does that work? A complete change in the UK legal structure would be required.

What’s the point of 1 year military service? There’s a reason you sign up for a 4 year contract when you join the forces.

I wish they would all just **** off. We have weeks of this nonsense.

This is what happens when you just throw out policies on the hoof and expect unbriefed ministers to go on air to defend them. It’s complete chaos.

The idea that parents could be fined for the actions of adult children is obviously complete bullshit. What happens if the parents refuse to pay their fines, do they move onto the grandparents? :)

It’s been suggested that you could serve your community service with MR teams. I’m sure these charity-funded groups would be delighted to receive a bunch of surly pressganged teenagers, kit them out, train them etc…

Obviously there isn’t a Tory youth vote anyway, but apparently this idea isn’t even playing well among the older voters they are hoping to attract either – they don’t like the idea of their hard-working grandkids getting their developing lives upended in this way.

There is literally no-one with any political savvy working on this campaign for the Conservatives, just a collection of weird Tory Boy special advisers and buffoons. The idea that ‘Labour Have No Plan’ is pure projection.

The only question is when we will get to the ‘Bring Back the Birch’ and ‘Reintroduce Death Penalty’ point of the campaign.

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If an 18 year old gets a job and starts paying taxes isn’t that enough of a contribution to society?

This is the bit I don’t understand. I just watched our local  MP on Facebook saying that they could fit their “Volunteering” in at the weekends if they had full time jobs. As you rightly say they are already contributing to society. Easy target though

can you imagine trying to get 18 year old roadman types to comply with “national service” . Don’t make me laugh

The only question is when we will get to the ‘Bring Back the Birch’ and ‘Reintroduce Death Penalty’ point of the campaign

Given the present non-arrest of offenders as the prisons are all full, I reckon this will be put forward by Rishi in a hastily-arranged press conference on Thursday morning.

They’re getting the gallows he’ll be stood next to installed at the moment. It’ll likely be pissing down again, the black skies adding to the general mood

What happens if they don’t have any parents? Who is liable then?

What happens if they don’t have any parents? Who is liable then?

What if they were in care? Does the local authority become have to pay up?

What happens if they don’t have any parents? Who is liable then?

Don’t come here with your logic and your sensible practical questions!

It’s election time where a normal untrustworthy Tory promise simply doesn’t cut it anymore; it has to be wildly impractical, expensive, impossible to implement but sound good in a slogan.

My son’s 18 but works in hospitality involving at least one, if not two weekend shifts? Does he have to stop that in order to do his volunteering?

Apparently not only might parents of 18 yrs old might get fined for them not doing their national service,  it also might affect their prospects of getting a job.

What an absolute bunch of morons

People are asking too many questions. You can’t expect Rishi Sunak to know all the answers. He needs time to think things through. He wasn’t expecting to call a snap election.

Given the present non-arrest of offenders as the prisons are all full, I reckon this will be put forward by Rishi in a hastily-arranged press conference on Thursday morning.

They’re getting the gallows he’ll be stood next to installed at the moment. It’ll likely be pissing down again, the black skies adding to the general mood

Hmmm they could resume Transportation to Aus again, more appropriate for shop lifters etc.

The suggested volunteering element includes service with Search and Rescue. I doubt this will come as a surprise to anyone but UK Gov have not engaged with my national SAR body at all about this. In the case of mountain rescue, we are entirely volunteer run and managing a large charity, running a statutory rescue function and training / managing 40 or so volunteers keeps us kind of busy (3000 hours last  year on rescues alone). Taking on the management of young people through national service is not within our remit, our capacity or within our insurance polices. Most of all, it is not why we volunteer with mountain rescue. We support DofE students, will give talks to youth groups and happy to accommodate visits, that is entirely different to delivering national service type provision.

If they have money to spend, it would be much better going to increasing range of secondary, further and higher education. It could and should support family centres, youth social work, criminal justice and existing youth programmes. Fix and invest in what is already there, don’t pretend to invent something new just to satisfy a tiny group of Tory voters.

“This is what happens when you just throw out policies on the hoof and expect unbriefed ministers to go on air to defend them. It’s complete chaos.”

They’ve been doing it for 14 **** years though, you’d have thought someone would know the drill by now.

They’ve been doing it for 14 **** years though, you’d have thought someone would know the drill by now.

Its also preparing for opposition. They come up with undeliverable ideas then, when in opposition, criticise Government for not delivering them.

Many politicians don’t realise that MRT, RNLI and very many other volunteer organisations that provide capability across civil society are highly trained and dedicated people – not just a random person wandering the hills in their spare time blowing a whistle.

Because it’s provided to the UK society at zero cost they assume it’s cheap

That’s because to a man like Sunak, the idea of committing your time and energy to something you’re not going to be paid handsomely for is simply incomprehensible

They know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Why do people keep saying the youth don’t vote Tory? Perhaps they don’t in the same number of older generations but there’s still a hell of a lot of that do.

Rishi Sunak, a man who struggles to use a contactless card, knows neither the price nor the value of things.

Fair point.

@gwaelod

Many politicians don’t realise that MRT, RNLI and very many other volunteer organisations that provide capability across civil society are highly trained and dedicated people

Actually whilst we’re at it, they could come and have a dabble at being a GP?

Kramer – just need to get Infosys to sort out the it backend behind the rostering and the (unpaid) jobs a good un I reckon

Why do people keep saying the youth don’t vote Tory? Perhaps they don’t in the same number of older generations but there’s still a hell of a lot of that do.

I think describing 8% as ‘a hell of a lot’ is a stretch. The Tories are enormously unpopular among young people.

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49512-how-is-britain-voting-as-the-2024-general-election-campaign-begins

Rishi Sunak, a man who struggles to use a contactless card, knows neither the price nor the value of things.

I think Gary’s economics was pointing out that his missus was getting a million quid a week for being her, I doubt there’s much in the local shops that you’d need to know the price as it’s inconsequential when buying the shop would be hardly make a hit on your finances :-)

They couldn’t get a politics balloon debate going at Uppingham School because absolutely no-one would stand for Labour. These creatures are among us.

Private school in 1974 – some pupils had a vote (6th year) and of course civic education. Lots of posters up, guess who was missing.

(Clue – they won, twice!).   1979 I was free and had a vote, the start of a life long loathing of the Conservative Party. Mind back then we had the National Front who were very much closer to today’s “Conservatives” than the party of Maggie and her Willie.

I don’t think National Front would have tolerated today’s multiethnic Cabinet.

The National Front’s racism was the crudest possible form of racism on par with American neo-nazis.

One of my enduring memories was NF stickers all over the London Underground which said “Become a coonstable in Robert Marx’s police force”. At that time the metropolitan police commissioner Robert Marks was trying to recruit police officers from ethnic minorities, 99% of coppers were white.

There was a reason why the Anti-Nazi League and Rock Against Racism were formed. There is no comparison with today.