“There Would perhaps maybe Be Doom On The Manner” | Tobias Ellwood On Nationwide Service

Young Tobias Elwood is waiting on the line to talk to us about national service Tobias how are you doing today uh good morning to you yes pleasure to be with you yeah great to have you on right so I don't know if you managed to if you still speaking now listen to sakir starma do you think he's uh convincing the general public they can.

Trust him on matters of National Security you know it's been a turbulent period in British politics and the polls haven't looked good for the conservative party and it's a little bit of ill discipline on our side let me put my hand up for that but we've moved into calmer Waters over the last few months but still uh labor have got away without.

Any scrutiny and the good thing about general election campaigns is that the spotlight is actually pressed on the alternative what would labor offer and that's what we're seeing today and you're unpicking um K's speech quite rightly and the electorate were able to then see what would happen if label were back in number 10 and I think that's.

Actually very very helpful inde I it will help the polls help people appreciate actually the difficulties there is particularly in this day and age all the pressures that we have international pressures which I'm sure we're about to speak on that you can't just Walt into number 10 and pretend everything is going to be fine.

Interesting I mean on that I mean it it sort of strikes me that Rishi sunak made his big set piece speech talking about the fact we live in a more dangerous world right now and he is the man who should be in number 10 to keep us all safe and uh Sak is going to be using this speech to talk about National Security amongst other things and one of.

The listeners who happens to be in Australia good old Roger in Melbourne has said I'm not sure what's going on but it's very interesting that your prime minister is talking about national service and surprise surprise our prime minister here is also talking about national service for anyone 18 or over so do these people know things that we.

Don't know I often wonder thatth we don't know what is coming I mean it's interesting because it's not just Australian I didn't know about them or now your uh your party's policy yesterday about reintroducing national service you've got other countries in Western Europe talking about conscription is there doom on the.

Way that's a very simple way of putting it but you need to be prepared for the fact that yes there potentially could be doom on the way we've had it easy for the last 30 years let's be really clear we've moved into a new era of insecurity and I'm really pleased that the Prime Minister yesterday and indeed the labor party had to respond today to start.

Considering this one issue of security that's the debate we are now H having defense and security doesn't tend to uh register very much in election campaigns is overshadowed understandably by domestic matters but we cannot ignore the gradual but clear demise of our Global Order globalization is on the retreat we that's very obvious as we.

Slide ever towards multiple conflicts a world at war and Britain cannot defend our interests let alone step forward to help other vulnerable allies unless we remodel our defense posture and that's what introducing a form of national service also in increasing defense spending to 2.5% this is a welcome sober recognition indeed a powerful reminder.

Of an increasingly Grim chapter in our history that we have now entered not too dissimilar to the 1930s I mean there there there have been some push back from people in the military a bit divided I would say in terms of response to bit to this but there various very very senior figures in the military saying well look if you're sort of.

Bringing people in at the age of 18 paying them for 12 months to come and essentially be trained up by by us and then we lose them we don't retain them they don't sort of go and serve after that then we're using a lot of resource and time and people power for something that's actually in some aspects going to be a drain from the military we're not.

Going to be able to use those resources and that time and that's the human resource to look after the people who are going to serve on the front line if we're wasting it on people who essentially just doing a bit of work experience and then going back into the private sector no bit it's a bit too simplistic there firstly it's not.

Possible to retain a standing Armed Force okay at a constant High Readiness so there must be an all of society approach which can retain those skill sets that's what we're doing so we can upgrade our defenses at short notice I talk about a new era of insecurity so those threats are going to increase the challenges are going to grow we don't.

Know when we're going to have to use those defenses when our aggressors competitors will do things to us we need to be prepared so all 18yar olds going through gaining some experience and then each year returning back for a week or so just to upgrade and top up their skill sets that's the model that Finland operates biggest border with with Russia.

Five million population they have the best uh capabilities defense posture in Europe by far and they do so by everybody going through this prism if you like of training at the age of 18 everybody is therefore prepared I understand the push back the thing is though I mean I get that I had actually had a wonderful Finnish housemate for a.

Long time who uh did her national service in Finland and is a reservist in their sort of their version of the SAS if you would a brilliant woman who's also a judge now uh in Finland but the problem I have with this is it isn't compulsory is it so it's optional if you're 18 and you take up this scheme it isn't compulsory at all so people could.

Say well look at the age of 18 you could choose to join the armed forces anyway if you're not going to make people do this um and I think you know people out there listening to this policy will say what's it going to involve what sort of things do we get to do how much will we be paid yeah these are all important.

Questions that a rural commission will then produce together but it will be mandatory to do a a period of Duty not necessarily with the military it could be with the civilian operations my father worked the United Nations so I grew up in Austria uh for a bit many of the my Austrian friends did that at the age of 18 some didn't go near the.

Military they work for the forestry commission the the fire service the ambulance service they did something that wasn't for themselves but for their nation and they they came out saying yes I'm actually better for it I learn more about myself I actually like the idea of Britain's competing a short period of Duty for your nation to do something for.

Your country not necessarily with the Armed Forces but to learn more about yourself but to develop skill sets which I'm afraid and I stress because of this uh the period of of History we're now moving into you may be called upon to use we need to be prepared I I can't stress any further what's happening in the world today Rising authoritarianism.

States rearming a new axis of power forming with no International Alliance indeed no Global institution like the United Nations in control of where our G global politics is actually heading we need to prepare Tobias look I agree with most of that and I actually do wish this national service policy well I have many more questions I would love to ask and.

Pull it apart but I'm afraid we have run out of time but thank you so much for coming on the program that's Tobias Elwood conservative MP and former Defense Minister before we go to a break Zoe we don't have long but um my problems with this is you know when you're going to say you want you've got an aspiration that you want young people.

To do community service or some armed services training but then you say well there's not really a punishment if they don't do this and actually the alternative for the 12 months in the military is one weekend of month delivering prescriptions or something like that well in this day and age if a young person you know signs up for that.

There's going to be all sorts of reasons and excuses why they don't do it well my problem is more the opposite which is that I think you need to provide an incentive for young people to feel like they have a stake in society what we're seeing is across the board not just young people but people feeling more and more disillusioned and disenchanted with.

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