Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of a system of national service for young people.

The Defence purpose is to protect the people of the United Kingdom, prevent conflict, and be ready to fight our enemies. To support this, the Services offer their recruits high-quality training, both vocational and in softer skills such as teamwork and the ability to function under pressure. These recruits are volunteers, however, and the Government has no current plans to reintroduce National Service or any form of conscription.

Since 1963, it has been the policy of successive Governments that the best way of providing for the defence of our country is by maintaining professional Armed Forces which are staffed by volunteers. The demanding nature of defence today is such that we require highly trained, professional men and women in our Regular and Reserve Armed Forces, fully committed to giving their best in defending our country and its allies.