British military expert \u2018can see clear paths\u2019 to possible military conscription<\/h2>\n
Although the government has so far ruled out the possibility of national service or conscription, it has been widely argued by experts that if tensions were to escalate and Britain found themselves in a war, the armed forces would need to enforce conscription to bolster their ranks.<\/p>\n
Fears are growing that ongoing Russian aggression could spark major conflict across Europe, with the expansion of tensions between the US and Greenland, and the US and Iran, meaning conscription in the UK has been a hotly discussed topic nationwide.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Government strategy has claimed that the UK must \u2018actively prepare\u2019 for war on homeland territory.<\/p>\n
In a foreword to the report, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, \u201cExtremist ideologies are on the rise. Technology is transforming the nature of both war and domestic security.<\/p>\n
\u201cHostile state activity takes place on British soil. It is an era of radical uncertainty, and we must navigate it with agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The last conscription in the UK was more than eight decades ago during World War 2 and, just like then, certain call-up exemptions would occur if another global war was to break out.<\/p>\n
Back in the 1940s, profession, age and medical conditions were all factors in determining who was exempt from military service and who was not.<\/p>\n
People employed across certain industries vital to keeping the country running would be exempt from the draft and it is likely the same rules would apply if WW3 was to break out.<\/p>\n
When could conscription happen?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mike Martin, an Afghanistan Veteran and the Lib Dem MP for Tunbridge Wells previously said if we were to go to war with Russia, the country would have to bring back conscription.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThere\u2019s a significant chance that it [war with\u00a0Russia] might happen so we must be prepared.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, if we get involved in a general war with\u00a0Russia, we\u2019ll be conscripting the population \u2013 there\u2019s no question about that.\u201d<\/p>\n However, former British Military Intelligence Colonel Philip Ingram MBE previously told JOE the country is a long way from bringing back mandatory military service.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThere would have to be a massive deterioration in the geopolitical environment across the world [for us to bring in conscription]. <\/p>\n \u201cThat massive deterioration suggesting that, not just the UK, but multiple organisations are on a path to war, possibly a declaration of war, or us getting directly involved in some heavy shooting conflicts. <\/p>\n \u201cNow, I\u2019ve been at this game for over 40 years, up until last year, I never saw a clear path. There\u2019s always barriers in the way to there being a large conflict. I can now see clear paths. So that\u2019s the slightly worrying thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The former Army officer, who joined the forces as an 18-year-old in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers before transferring to the Intelligence Corps, set out what would need to happen first before the general population would be asked to step up.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore we start to see any emergency legislation being put into parliament, we\u2019d see the regular forces have their increased readiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d see elements of them being deployed overseas, and we\u2019d see the reserve forces starting to be called up, and not just in the way that they\u2019ve been called up to support operations beforehand in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and the rest of it. It would be a massive call up of the reserve forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThen you\u2019ve got an additional element to the reserve, which are those regular military who have recently retired and still remain with a liability for call up, and we start to hear discussions about them being called in. This is all before there\u2019d be anything that would say to the general population, \u2018right folks, you\u2019re next!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Professions<\/strong><\/p>\n During WW2, professions such as baking, farming, medicine, coal mining and engineering were exempt from conscription.<\/p>\n However, any professions exempt today would likely reflect the modern era. <\/p>\n Colonel Ingram said: \u201cIt\u2019s getting that balance between getting sufficient people to come and fill the armed forces and having sufficient people to keep the essential industries of the country running.<\/p>\n \u201cIndividuals that are running our critical national infrastructure, so our nuclear power plants, our other power plants, running our railways, because they\u2019re needed to transport logistics and goods. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople who are in the emergency services, police, doctors, nurses, unless they\u2019ve got a reserve commitment. <\/p>\n \u201cBut there\u2019d be exemptions for people working in the defence industry \u2013 there\u2019s no point in calling someone up who\u2019s critical to manufacturing tanks or ammunition or other bits and pieces. <\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s a very wide ranging list that would be put together, but that would have would be something that has to be included in any legislation and every government will have, as part of this contingency planning, draft legislation that\u2019s there, so they\u2019re not starting off with a blank sheet of paper. That will already be drafted.\u201d<\/p>\n Age<\/strong><\/p>\n Conscription in WW2 initially only applied to men aged between 20 and 21. However, it was quickly expanded to include all men between the ages of 18 and 41. <\/p>\n The British government introduced the National Service Act in 1948 to cover conscription in peacetime.<\/p>\n That meant that men aged between 17 and 21 had to do military service for 18 months and were also put on the reserve list for four years.<\/p>\n Medical<\/strong><\/p>\n Certain medical conditions could also make you exempt from conscription. Currently, the British Army has a long list of medical conditions which make you ineligible for military service including eyesight problems and hearing impairments.<\/p>\n Neurological conditions, severe skin conditions, psychiatric and cardiovascular issues could also provide grounds for exemption. Those with bone or joint problems, such as chronic knee injuries, shoulder problems and a history of bone fractures, could also dodge the draft.<\/p>\n Current recruitment problems<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the\u00a0latest data\u00a0covering the\u00a012 months to 30 September 2024, the\u00a0average time between application and starting basic training was 249 days for the Army, 279 days for the Royal Navy and 301 days for the Royal Air Force.<\/p>\n Colonel Ingram gave insight into how the Ministry of Defence are trying to combat that problem going forward.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThere\u2019s a massive delay because there was a very big contract given to an organisation called Capita. They were not proactive. They brought in delays that were unnecessary, and the government recognised that.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the government has done is it\u2019s taken the contract and it\u2019s now given it to Serco. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve brought in a new Armed Forces recruitment service that\u2019s launching in 2027 but the work\u2019s going on now to replace the individual schemes that were being run by the Navy, the Army and the Air Force \u2013 you weren\u2019t getting the coherence between all of them. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve set themselves some quite stringent targets, from people applying, to getting them in. So for example, if someone applies, they\u2019re to get a conditional offer within 10 days, and they\u2019re to get a date when they\u2019re going to start training within 30 days of their application. <\/p>\n \u201cNow that\u2019s from 2027 but it\u2019s like anything in defence, it is a super tanker. It takes time to change things. So between now and 2027 we\u2019ve got this handover between Capita and Serco where we have to find sticking plasters.\u201d<\/p>\n Colonel Ingram said the Army is putting 400 troops in recruitment centres, as they look at ways of encouraging people to come through the doors but claims low unemployment rates and negative news stories about the services are impacting the recruitment drive.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you have got very low unemployment and high job opportunities, then getting people to come and join the military is really quite difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is also affected by a lot of the negative stories that we hear and the way they\u2019re being dealt with. For example, the RAF \u2013 the sexual scandals around the red arrows last year, in the Royal Navy \u2013 the rape scandal that went on, the army \u2013 the suicide of Jaysley Beck, those have a very negative impact on recruitment. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat the government is trying to do is deal with that through policy. Policy has failed, but what they\u2019re now bringing in is an armed forces commissioner to try and deal with a lot of these issues. But it will take time, that\u2019s the difficulty, and the global geopolitical situation is becoming more unstable very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission on any sales generated from it.<\/em><\/p>\n Households are being urged to buy one appliance to prepare for the potential\u00a0outbreak of WW3, or other mass disruptions like another pandemic, internet outages, and extreme weather conditions.<\/p>\n In a new security strategy published last month, ministers said the UK now finds itself in \u201can era in which we face confrontation with those who are threatening our security\u201d.<\/p>\n Ministers are calling for people to become more resilient, and plan to carry out a cross-government exercise on how to deal with crises.<\/p>\n The strategy said: \u201cSome adversaries are laying the foundations for future conflict, positioning themselves to move quickly to cause major disruption to our energy and or supply chains, to deter us from standing up to their aggression.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario,\u201d as reported by the\u00a0Express.<\/p>\n The government runs a website to prepare the public for national disruptions including war, extreme weather and cyber attacks.<\/p>\n As part of its list of advice for households, people are being told to buy one crucial item \u2013\u00a0battery or\u00a0wind-up radios.<\/p>\n This is because this type of\u00a0radio\u00a0doesn\u2019t need power from the National Grid, which may be disrupted during a crisis.<\/p>\n So households can use the radio to receive emergency information from the government during a national disruption.<\/p>\n The advice reads: \u201cBattery or\u00a0wind-up radio\u00a0to get updates during a power cut \u2013 a car radio can be used, however, in severe weather it might be safer to stay inside.\u201d<\/p>\n Other items suggested on the\u00a0UK Prepare website\u00a0include a battery or wind-up torch, portable power bank, spare batteries, hand sanitiser, wet wipes, bottled water, non-perishable food, and if applicable, baby supplies.<\/p>\n The government advice adds: \u201cConsider what supplies you and your household might need during an emergency lasting a few days, such as a power cut or water outage, or situations where you are advised to stay at home or to leave your home (evacuate) for safety reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be helpful to keep these items in one place in your home and ideally somewhere easy to find if the lights aren\u2019t working \u2013 if you are escaping your house due to a fire, you should not take anything with you at all. You could consider keeping items you might need to take with you if asked to leave your home quickly in a spare bag \u2013 you might hear some people call this a \u2018grab bag\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n You can get a wind-up radio from\u00a0Amazon here\u00a0for your home emergency kit. And it can be used for activities such as hiking and camping.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n #avoid #army #conscription #WW3 #Britain #war<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" British military expert \u2018can see clear paths\u2019 to possible military conscription Although the government has so far ruled out the possibility of national service or conscription, it has been widely argued by experts that if tensions were to escalate and Britain found themselves in a war, the armed forces would need to enforce conscription to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1473,1581,1580,1514,1577,1578,1516,311,183,96,1579],"class_list":{"0":"post-2574","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"tag-amazon","9":"tag-army","10":"tag-avoid","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-british-military","13":"tag-conscription","14":"tag-nato","15":"tag-russia","16":"tag-ukraine","17":"tag-war","18":"tag-ww3"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.joe.co.uk\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2204759949-1.jpg?height=683&width=1024\")
Households urged to buy one crucial item to prepare for war in the UK<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.joe.co.uk\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Website-Image-Full-Bleed-2025-07-01T101632.882.webp?height=660&width=1180\")