Tories’ national service pledge was sprung on candidates, says minister | Military
The Conservative campaign pledge to introduce mandatory national service was dreamed up by advisers and sprung on candidates, a government minister has said. Criticism of the headline-grabbing policy has centred on claims it was not fully thought through before being announced, while ministers said just two days before the announcement that a return of national service was not on the cards. “It’s a Conservative party policy. The government’s policy was set out on Thursday,” said the government minister Steve Baker, referring to his colleague Andrew Murrison’s previous insistence there were “no current plans to reintroduce national service”. Baker, who serves as a minister of state at the Northern Ireland Office, said on Monday: “I don’t like to be pedantic but a government policy would have been developed by ministers on the advice of officials and collectively agreed. I would have had a say on behalf of [Northern Ireland]. But this proposal was developed by a political adviser or advisers and sprung on candidates, some of whom are relevant ministers.” On Monday, the Labour leader, Keir …
