A former Conservative leader has called for Brits to be armed as part of a new 21st century National Service.
William Hague claimed the UK needed to adopt a Scandinavian-style conscription system where those eligible fill out a questionnaire which then allows the military to select them for a year of service as is currently the case in Norway where about 17 percent of 18-year-olds are called up each year.
Hague, 62, made the bizarre rant in The Times claiming that citizenship “is not a travel document” and comes with obligations to the country.
During the piece, he said old ideas around national service are “not seen as compatible for our hyper-individualistic age”.
He said: “The blunt truth is that the chances of getting through the next couple of decades without a dangerous world crisis are small.”
His comments come after defence secretary Grant Shapps warned the world was “moving from a post-war to pre-war world” and military chief of staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, sparked conscription fears as he called for the creation of a “citizen army”.
But Downing Street has poured cold water on the suggestions, saying it has no plans to bring back conscription.
Conscription was last in force in 1963 after the National Service Act was passed following the end of the First World War which required men aged 17 to 21 to serve in the armed forces for 18 months and remain on the reserve list for several years after.
