𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Most Express readers believe young Britons not in work or education should take part in national service, according to a new poll. It comes after a former senior Army officer suggested the idea to counter Britain’s shrinking military.

In a poll of nearly 3,100 Express readers, around 95% (2,920) answered ‘yes’ when asked whether youngsters on benefits should take part in national service. Almost 5% (146) answered ‘no’, while less than 1% (23) said ‘don’t know’. Britain ended national service in 1960 but there have been growing calls for it to be re-introduced amid concerns over the size of the UK Armed Forces, with the Army the smallest it has been since the Napoleonic era.

Major General Tim Cross, a retired logistics officer, said the Government should consider introducing options for young people not working or studying to serve in the military as part of a national service programme.

Mr Cross, who said he was not calling for conscription, told Times Radio: “I understand there are something like 800,000 youngsters between the ages of about 18 and 25 who are not in work, not in training, not in education.

“We are short of soldiers, sailors and airmen. What are we doing paying these youngsters welfare money when we could be saying to them: ‘You’re going to join the military’?”

He said this could help the country realise “the reality of the nature of the world we’re living in”.

Latest official figures show between October and December 2025, there were 957,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the UK who were not in employment, education or training.

Britain used conscription during both world wars to bolster its ranks.

However, peacetime conscription continued between 1949 and 1960.

All physically fit males aged 17-21 had to serve in the military as part of national service, with more than two million called up.

This was initially for a period of 18 months before being extended to two years.

The Government has insisted it has no plans for military service or conscription, with its focus on developing the professional Armed Forces.

Other NATO nations continue to have conscription programmes, while France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have all launched or are preparing to launch voluntary military service schemes.

Earlier this week, pressure was heaped on Labour’s approach to defence by former NATO chief Lord George Robertson.