Service role can help ensure our freedoms

RISHI Sunak has unveiled an old idea with a modern twist that will strike a chord with voters of every age.

The return of National Service has the potential to enrich our communities while giving young people confidence, new skills and a sense of purpose and belonging.

Youngsters were isolated during the years of the pandemic and many of them are still coming to terms with the legacy of that wretched time.

There is deep concern that Britain has become a more divided society and that the rise of identity politics has diminished our sense of shared nationhood.

Young adults who spend time at the heart of our armed forces, emergency services and other great organisations will emerge as citizens who understand why older generations feel such deep pride in this great country.

They will have made friends for life and will have put their energy and creativity to superb use.

Unlike past veterans of National Service, they will not be sent to construct bridges in a distant colony and most will not serve in the military.

But if the threat of international conflict worsens and we need to increase the size of our reserve forces radically, this scheme could be expanded.

This policy has been unveiled as we prepare to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-day landing. It is concerning how many Britons have only a vague idea of what happened on that day of courage and sacrifice.

We must do more than honour the memory of the fallen.

Each generation should hear the stories of how brave warriors assembled to defeat sheer evil and secured the liberty we must never take for granted.