Rishi Sunak has announced plans to introduce mandatory national service if the Conservatives are re-elected at the July general election – and Gen Z is not impressed.
Under the new plan, the prime minister said that every 18-year-old will spend 12 months in a full-time military commission, or one weekend a month volunteering in ‘civil resilience’ over a year.
However, the younger generation is fighting back in the most Gen Z way – with memes and social media uproar roasting what has already been dubbed ‘Nashy Serve’.
As far as the Tories are concerned, national service is ‘completely essential’. “Only by nurturing our shared culture and fostering a sense of duty can we preserve our nation and values for decades to come. This is an investment in both the character of young people and our security,” the party said.
However, leaked WhatsApp messages revealed the PM faced a backlash among Tory members – with furious activists saying he “must be stopped”.
And many horrified Gen Z voters have taken to social media to share their thoughts with memes, tweets and videos. One X user wrote: “99% of people that are in favour of the national service are middle-aged or older people that think this generation is too soft and spoilt and so needs to go to war to get ‘discipline’ you wouldn’t think that these people never experienced national service the way they advocate for it,” while another said: “He’s trying to lose. He has lost 95% of the young vote by mentioning national service.”
Others made light of the situation and wrote: “Can’t this weekend mate I’ve got nashy serve,” another jibed: “I think I’d be great on the front lines, send me and the girlies in hashtag nashy serve.”
Even the official Labour Party TikTok page got involved and released a video mocking the idea which has now gone viral with over three million views and 500K likes. They wrote: “POV: Rishi Sunak turning up on your 18th birthday to send you to war,” alongside a video of Cilla Black singing surprise surprise.
People were quick to comment on the video, with many finding the jibe hilarious. One TikToker wrote: “I’m voting labour just because of the TikToks,” and another said: “This is amazing marketing from Labour.” A thirs added: “Whoever is in charge of the labour social media actually should be the PM.”
In an official statement, a spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “This is another desperate, £2.5bn unfunded commitment from a Tory party which already crashed the economy, sending mortgages rocketing, and now they’re spoiling for more.
So what is behind Gen Z’s reaction? Counselling Psychologist Dr Louise Goddard-Crawley explains that contrary to the ‘snowflake’ label the generation has been unfairly tagged with, the younger generation’s opposition isn’t a sign of “fragility”, but a “well-informed stance” against policies they see as “regressive and harmful”.
And that using memes is a ‘psychological defence mechanism’ used to make a serious issue seem less intimidating, with terrified youngsters knowing all too well about previous generations who were scarred for life by WWII and the Vietnam war.
“This form of expression helps them articulate their opposition and mobilise collective action while maintaining a sense of control over the narrative,” she said.
For Dr Goddard-Crawley, conscription would be ‘ethically problematic’, but she believes that Gen Z are more savvy when it comes to protecting their mental health, which could make the government’s scheme an incredibly tough sell.
“Today, the younger generation’s awareness of mental health risks might make them more resistant to a policy that could expose them to similar traumas without adequate support,” she continued. “The perception that Gen Z is ‘soft’ or less resilient is a mischaracterisation.
“This generation faces unique challenges, including economic uncertainty, climate change anxiety, and social media pressures. Labelling their legitimate concerns and mental health awareness as signs of weakness is a form of displacement that ignores the complex realities they navigate daily.”
Meanwhile, Dr Michelle Tytherleigh, a senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chester, says that the premise of National Service is completely at odds with the beliefs and values of the younger generation.
“Generation Z seeks truth, exploration, and freedom from confining labels, and prioritises personal authenticity and the ability to explore diverse perspectives. By presenting National Service as a mandatory program, this conflicts with their desire for autonomy and freedom. Generation Z also values meaningful work.
“They prioritise mental health and wellbeing, and diverse, inclusive environments, and are willing to avoid or leave workplaces that do not align with their beliefs. They will, also, often place workplace values over competitive pay. National Service, perceived as a one-size-fits-all policy, therefore, likely clashes with these values, as it may not offer the meaningful, inclusive, and mentally supportive environments they seek.”
Ben, a 19-year-old from Wiltshire shared his thoughts and said offering payment – as suggested by journalist and TV host Jeremy Clarkson – would make the scheme more palatable. “Coming from someone slightly younger, I have to agree with what Jeremy Clarkson said. I think there should be some sort of payment as I feel it’s going to be very hard to engage the younger generation in mandatory National Service for any sort of volunteer work.
“Adding some sort of payment or reward would be engaging people to actually take part and be beneficial as it would give people key skills, real-life work experience which they could then add onto there CV. The benefits for the military are great and would increase those applying.”
The Tories said the scheme would be part-funded through a £1bn tax avoidance clampdown and £1.5bn currently spent on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, but right-wingers blasted the PM and said he “must be stopped” and The Mirror has seen messages sent to regional WhatsApp groups for members of activist group the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) and claim the prime ministers attempt to woo voters make him look “out of touch” and dismiss the unexpected policy as a “stunt”.
William Freer, a research fellow for National Security at Geostrategy, agreed that the UK’s armed forces have been dealing with a “shortage of personnel” and is down 4 per cent this year compared to last year. He said it’s a concern that over the course of 2023, almost 22,000 people left the armed forces (including reserves) but only around 15,000 joined.
He explained: “Britain’s armed forces are facing a personnel crunch, there are difficulties in the recruitment process, for example, many potential recruits withdraw from the process due to delays. There are difficulties with retention due to a combination of factors such as pay, accommodation, and fatigue.”
However, he added that this National Service scheme would likely not solve the personnel problems and would require a “significant expansion in the capacity of the armed forces”, but said one good thing to come from it could be that it could create a “pool of citizens with a degree of military training who could be called upon in a time of national emergency”.
Professor John Strawson, from the Department of Law, Policing and Justice, University of East London said it seems to be a “gimmick” rather than a serious proposal for dealing with the declining defence spending and said Britain needs a “more serious approach”.
He added: “Over the past 14 years our armed services have been run down and the British army at 73,000 is just on a par with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Britain needs a larger, better-equipped professional military capable of dealing with military threats in the age of AI.
“The last thing the military needs is to have to divert resources to training millions of young people, most of whom will be reluctant recruits. We need a more serious approach to defence given the Russian-Ukrainian War on our doorstep, the dangerous situation in the Middle East and the Chinese posturing over Taiwan.”
A more effective use of the effort and money, according to William Freer would be “dedicated to realising the military aspect of this National Service scheme” by investing in improving the ability of the armed forces to recruit and retain full-time personnel.
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