Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen correspondent in southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone strike targeted the town of Yater, South Lebanon
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One martyr and five wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a car in Al-Numayriyeh, Nabatieh District.
Al Mayadeen correspondent to Gaza: The areas required to be evacuated in western Gaza contain tens of thousands of displaced people.
Al-Mayadeen correspondent to Gaza: The Israeli evacuation threats are for areas the occupation considers safe, deep within western Gaza.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister: Beirut has not received any official memorandum from Syria, neither through the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic channels nor via the joint Lebanese-Syrian committee.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister told Al Mayadeen that he has not received any official notification regarding a potential visit by his Syrian counterpart to Beirut
Russia calls for the continuation of ceasefire between "Israel" and Iran without any breaks: Lavrov
The Israeli military command confirmed the death of an officer—a commander serving as a team leader in the elite 1st Golani Brigade’s Patrol Battalion—during intense confrontations in the southern Gaza Strip
Israeli media: An Israeli guard was killed in a shooting attack at the Gush Etzion Junction, and those who carried out the operation were injured
Ofer Military Court extended Nasser al-Lahham's detention for three days

Sunak may sanction UK youth if they refuse compulsory national service

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 21 Jun 2024 08:39
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

The British PM becomes a subject of grilling during the BBC Question Time session as he is asked about the multiple issues facing the UK.

Listen
  • x
  • British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a BBC Question Time Leaders' Special in York, England, Thursday June 20, 2024. (AP/Pool)
    British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a BBC Question Time Leaders' Special in York, England, on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP)

The British youth may face sanctions or restrictions to finance, driver's licenses, and "all sorts of other things" if they refuse to comply with the Conservative policy of compulsory national service for all 18-year-olds, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak indicated during a BBC Question Time.

Asked whether he could deny them bank cards, he replied, “There’s lot of different models around Europe.”

Sunak was thrown shouts of “shame” for his refusal to state that he would keep the UK in the European Convention on Human Rights, as he was also challenged on the alleged betting on the general election date, saying he was “incredibly angry” about it.

Last month, Sunak said he was planning on introducing a compulsory military service or alternative service for young people. 

In an article for the Daily Mail, Sunak wrote, "We will reinvent National Service for today's Britain. It will provide life-changing opportunities for our young people, offering them the chance to learn real-world skills, do new things, and contribute to their community and our country … All 18-year-olds will do this new National Service, whatever their background and wherever they live in the UK."

Read more: Sunak under cabinet fire over plans to curb foreign student visas

Young people will be able to choose between full-time military service in the British armed forces for a year and alternative service in the form of volunteering in the rescue service and other structures for 25 days, the prime minister said. 

Related News

France, UK prepare 50,000-troop force for Ukraine deployment

Macron calls on UK to recognize Palestine during State visit

"To those who complain that making it mandatory is unreasonable, I say: citizenship brings with it obligations as well as rights. Being British is about more than just the queue you join at passport control. To be clear, our new National Service is not conscription. The vast majority of those who do it will not serve in our Armed Forces. Only those who choose to, and come through the tough entrance tests, will do that," Sunak added.

'A commonsense politician'

Asked about the infamous medical NHS waiting lists, he admitted that the government “haven’t made as much progress as I would like,” but things are improving, he claimed. When Sunak asked the questioner if this had convinced him, the questioner replied, “No”, while a doctor in the audience attacked Sunak saying, “People are suffering.”

Further, Sunak then called on people to judge him on his own record but was asked why the youth should put trust in him amid “shenanigans with the Tory party." Fiona Bruce, the host, said, “There’s a bit of a theme emerging.”

Before Sunak's questioning, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer was called out by a member of the audience for “all of the backtracking on policies from Labour,” which Starmer defended by saying that tough measures were needed, characterizing one as being between reducing NHS waiting lists and removing student tuition fees.

“They are political choices,” he said, calling himself “a commonsense politician," before adding, “I’m telling you what they are before the election, so people can make their mind up.”

The audience asked if he was speaking the truth when he praised Jeremy Corbyn during the 2019 election as someone who would make a “great” prime minister. He attempted to divert the situation by saying he did not expect Labour to win in 2019, and said, “I was campaigning for the Labour party, I was a Labour politician.”

The host then pressed him for a yes or no answer, to which he said that he believed Corbyn would have been better than his Conservative opponent, “Look what we got – Boris Johnson.”

The British Conservatives are expected to suffer a historic loss in July’s general election, ending their 14-year rule of the UK, according to three major polls on Wednesday.

A poll by Savanta and Electoral Calculus for The Telegraph forecasts the Tories winning only 53 seats out of 650 in July’s vote, marking an all-time low for the Conservative Party. The poll also predicts that current Tory leader and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could lose his seat in Richmond and Northallerton, an unprecedented setback for a serving PM.

  • Keir Starmer
  • Rishi Sunak
  • Jeremy Corbyn
  • United Kingdom
  • national service

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Concrete and rubble fall from a heavily damaged building as Israeli soldiers search for survivors in a residential area hit by a missile fired from Iran, near Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine, Sunday, June 15, 2025 (AP)

'Israel' concealed damage inflicted by Iran in war, report finds

  • Politics
  • 5 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Yemenis burn US and Israeli flags during an anti-US and anti-Israeli weekly rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 20, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Sanaa slams UN envoy over biased statement on Red Sea operations

Palestinians carry the body of Abdul Qusay Issa, 23, who was killed in an Israeli military raid, during his funeral at the West Bank village of Salem, near Nablus, Sunday, July 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli settlers kill Palestinian youth in brutal West Bank assault

Vehicles drive past a banner showing portraits of the Iranian armed forces commanders and nuclear scientists who were killed in an Israeli strike, at Tajrish Square in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran envisions a resistant, independent Middle East, Larijani says

An al-Qassam Brigades fighter stands over the corpse of an Israeli soldier killed in Khan Younis, Gaza, in footage published on July 10, 2025 (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam kill Israeli soldier in new 'scandal' for Israeli forces

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS