The people of a British town have said they are in favour of bringing back national service.
News of Paington’s ‘preference’ for making its young serve in the military comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a new scheme ahead of the general election. The Tories claimed the aim was “nurturing our shared culture and fostering a sense of duty,” to “preserve our nation and values for decades to come,” despite the Labour Party slamming the idea as “another desperate, £2.5billion unfunded commitment.”
It seems some people are in favour of the move, which would target teenagers to serve in the military or take part in “civil resilience”.
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The move was a hot topic in the town of Paignton in Devon, which appears to have a soft spot for the idea – at least according to a poll on Facebook. In a post on the Facebook community group Spotted Paignton, one person anonymously wrote in to ask: “Curious on your opinions seeing lately this is getting seen as a vote winning policy!?”
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
People were then encouraged to vote with either a laughing emoji if they were against the idea or a heart if they were in favour of the reintroduction of it.
At the time of writing, 291 people had reacted with a heart, while just 227 had reacted with a laughing emoji. Some 68 people had simply given it a thumbs up. While a Facebook post is far from hard evidence, it is testimony that in some pockets of the country people at least are seemingly in favour of the controversial policy suggestion.
(Image: Getty Images/Stocktrek Images)
As of 2015, more than one in four people who lived in Paignton were over the age of 65, compared to 18.6% being so nationwide as per the 2021 census.
Discussion surrounding national service or even conscription has reached new levels in recent months in relation to growing instability and tension around the globe, including conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza as well as mounting pressure around Taiwan. These events have contributed to calls from top leaders in NATO and European countries to get on a “war footing”.
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