Rishi Sunak says his children extra excited by National Service than Maths to 18

Rishi Sunak says his daughters were much more excited about being forced to do national service than being forced to learn maths to 18.

Speaking during a visit to Stoke on Trent, the Prime Minister insisted he hadn’t given up on young people. And he warned Tory MPs campaigning in July’s general election is not optional – after the Mirror revealed Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker had jetted off for a beach holiday in Greece.

Mr Sunak failed to pass crucial reforms for people renting their homes, introduced mandatory national service for 18-year-olds – but managed to find £2.3 billion a year to give wealthy pensioners a tax cut.

But asked by the Mirror why he’d given up on the young, he said: “I haven’t. I’ve just announced a massive policy that I think will be transformational for our country and incredibly positive for young people.”

Briefly appearing irritated by the question, the PM snipped: “Now, I get that you don’t agree with that. And that’s that’s fine.

“But I think providing young people, regardless of their background, where they’re from, where they live, with the opportunities that National Service will provide, the skills that it will give them later in life will be hugely positive for them, and at the same time, foster a culture of service in our country that will make our societies more cohesive and strengthen our security and resilience as a country.

“But I think service gives you purpose. And, you know, I guess we’ll just disagree on that.”

Asked if his two daughters were looking forward to doing National Service, he said: “My daughters, I think, are definitely more excited than they were when I announced maths to 18.

“I can tell you that was a much, much easier conversation than that conversation was.”

He went on: “I’m a dad, right? And so I do this first and foremost as a dad, knowing full well that if I’m successful, my daughters will do it. And I’m really excited for them to do it.”

Asked if campaigning was optional for his MPs in this election – after Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker went on holiday days after he called the election, the PM said: “No. All our candidates are working their socks off across the country.

“I’ve been out every day of this campaign spending time with them. They’re working really hard. And what they’re talking to everyone about is the choice of this election.”