13/09/2013 00:00
TW
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by RAY FLEMING
DAVID Cameron got as near as he dared to proposing a return to National Service in Britain yesterday when he announced a voluntary “national citizen service” for 16-year-olds. The idea, he said, was to “make people proud of themselves and proud of their country”. Various six-week courses will give the volunteers the opportunity of experiencing military-style training, undertaking voluntary work in local communities or travelling abroad to work in developing countries. Participants who complete their course satisfactorily will be eligible for a cash award, half of which will go the organisation they worked with and half to a charity of the individual's choice. At the end of the six weeks there will be a graduation ceremony attended by the participant's friends and family during which the 16-year-olds will be asked to “pledge their allegiance to Britain”.

There are elements of such schemes as the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, the Prince's Trust, the Boy Scouts and others in Mr Cameron's proposals and one wonders why he did not think of supporting these experienced organisations to expand their activities rather than creating what will need to be a large organisation to administer the “citizen service” in which more than half-a-million youngsters will be eligible to participate every year. Mr Cameron said that the scheme had not been costed, a surprising admission which reinforced the impression that it was another of his instant policies designed to show that he has moved to the right from the centre.