National Service Plan "Reeks of Hypocrisy": Sunak's Bonkers Policy is Nonsense

[@titaniumteddybear]

The Tories expecting young people to volunteer to help "underfunded services", when the Tories are the ones who stripped away their funding in the first place, is a pretty good summary of the state of intellectual discourse within the Conservative Party.

[@mightyone3737]

It's also a way to make teens busier so they don't have as much time to protest against the policies that are ruining their presents/futures.

[@Jay_Johnson]

Let’s get things straight this isn’t volunteering this is mandatory community service ie a punishment at best and slave labour to cut costs at worse. I can’t believe people aren’t focusing on the fact the policy is expecting people to do this work for free. At least with national service you are getting paid. I’m sure if the Tories thought they could get away with it they would make all public sector workers do ‘*Mandatory Volunteering Service*’ every weekend.

[@EdwardLindon]

​@@Jay_JohnsonDear random white guy, please stop using the word "slavery" to make an easy rhetorical point.

[@101Mant]

​@@EdwardLindonI'm sorry if you were an actual slave and it offends you. You weren't? Historically people of all ethnicities have been slaves? Guess you don't have a leg to stand on in that argument.

[@blazerunner5666]

@@EdwardLindon If the policy goes forward as "you must do this free labour or face sanctions" that's about as textbook as it gets really. Slave labour has evolved with the times to become less obvious and less easily reviled by the public.

[@PhiltheMoko]

Good on you Nish for pushing back on the necessity of austerity measures.

[@jamesgrover2005]

24:48 austerity is a political choice, country finance is NOT like home finance but even so .. borrowing is fine if you invest for the future, it isn't fine if a bunch of Tory's give it to their mates.

[@Olly__Zines-By-Blade]

As an 18 year old Sociology student doing my A-level exams literally right now, this national service announcement flagged up two enormous red flags for me: 1. It seems like the Tories are trying to solve issues with staffing and funding in the NHS by providing free labour in the form of potentially-mandatory volunteering of 18-year-olds, which is obviously problematic. 2. If the military service is being paid but the police/NHS service isn't, what that will effectively do is funnel a lot of working-class 18 year olds into the military because they need the money, and that does not sit right with me morally.

[@dh1380]

10 year veteran here. Nobody wants it. If i was still in, I would argue the training burden is big enough so as increase that burden would require an astronomical expansion of the forces/services overall. I left because I reached a point where the benefits weren't enough to retain me. There are others who leave afteir their minimum retention period of four years. If retention is already an issue what in the hell is there to incentivise otherwise unwilling "voluntolds" to commit to this not mention keeping the JOs and NCOs in to train them. It is a ludicrous idea on every level This logic applies not only to the military but public service overall. What message does this send to young people about democracy when a government in decline basically says "we will compromise your future for OAP votes"

[@chobblegobbler2536]

Another un paid internship for us lazy youngins! We live in this little bubble. Not because we work 60+ hours a week to be poor but because we are lazy, anti social, etc. let’s make deal, as soon as the boomers and trust fund babies complete their national service we will start.

[@jsrodman]

A mandate for the entire populace to participate to some degree in worthwhile projects that aid the entire society might not be a bad thing. But in our current society where so many people do not have this spare time precisely because the society is so regressive, I can't see it being possible. Even if it wasn't an empty nonsense posture.

[@101Mant]

​@@jsrodmansure if the entire populace takes part. Most of it isn't in the armed forces, no reason healthy people of any any couldn't do the community stuff.

[@juanvaldez7279]

I am not sure if I truly understand British life I'm American, Sorry But if I may say. I think you won the internet today Congratulations

[@chobblegobbler2536]

@@jsrodman I would have said the same thing 5 years ago. The vision of an equal implementation of national service will not happen the way it does in your head. Lots of paperwork for boomers. I’m just saying let them go first

[@jsrodman]

@@chobblegobbler2536 Oh, I have no illusions. I know it could never work reasoanbly.

[@ifionlyhadaboat]

Forced volunteering makes no sense.If they want to require "national service," then "national service" at minimum needs to be a full-time contract job that pays a living wage. Young peoples' mental health won't benefit from coerced labor

[@Jay_Johnson]

Slavery

[@injuringchip3161]

Who would've thought that when you get rid of anything that young people would like to do, they tend not to be very happy? Or when you get rid of anything young people would like to do, they will just put themselves in bubbles and stop interacting with areas which are being increasingly defunded? Mad that

[@dancoyle6911]

American man here, What does an 18 year old get for this national service plan? Requiring them to do it without something in exchange is just nonsense. Are we going to make housing easier, Mr Sunak?

[@ExhaustedWombat]

It’s brazenly for cantankerous boomers who feel the youth are lazy despite all evidence to the contrary.

[@OffTheWallChick]

*Forced unpaid labour, not volunteering

[@alansharman3644]

all part of the covert slavery system we live in.

[@sunnyfoster2798]

If I worked at a service where 18 year olds were required to volunteer at I would be very apprehensive. Essentially they are inflicting young people with very little skills on institutions that often don’t have enough staff to operate optimally. What makes the Tories think these institutions will have the time and staff to teach/baby sit young folks to do what? To top it off the kids will be working once a month and will likely forget a large portion what they learned the month before, requiring them to be retrained practically every month. It sounds like a very unthought through idea even before you consider not paying people during a cost of living crisis.

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

It's just a tax on young people's time, a way to exhaust them and control their lives

[@o0obEaKeRo0o]

Canadian listener here to offer my 2 cents on the "National Service" proposal. My province requires 40hrs of "community involvement" (volunteering) to earn your high school diploma. This has been a requirement for quite a few years now. In my experience, young people don't get much out of it, and those who genuinely want to volunteer and get involved can have a harder time finding opportunities of interest. I think it would be better to find a way to incentivize service, rather than making it a requirement.

[@nataschavisser573]

This is my experience with highschool community service in my chuntry also. Due to issues surrounding leagal liability, the service has to be physically and emotionally safe for cosseted highschool kids, so whatever they end up doing has a poverty tourism vibe. But non-school age people can do stuff that is more challenging and worthwhile. But I also think no amount of forcible "volunteering" by unskilled young adults will solve issues caused by decades of underfunding of social services.

[@KristineMaitland]

Another Canadian - Ontario gal. Now the kids have to learn to write in cursive and do a course in financial literacy. Of course, we don't have enough teachers to teach the course.

[@paleogreg7427]

I had the same experience growing up in the US state of Maryland

[@jonathand.mcnaughton4205]

Ontario gang 🤙. Really though it doesn’t do anything. Didn’t encourage an actual desire to go and volunteer, it just meant in senior year there were a bunch of kids scrambling to try and find anything that counted just to get their 40 hours. It kind of just felt like a moralization effort so that the school board could pat themselves on the backs, but no one actually got anything useful out of it, including the establishments that would take on the volunteers, they just wanted us to book our hours and be done with it.

[@maxsch8454]

That’s still your choice, you aren’t punished by the state for not doing it

[@deusex3124]

This was great. Liz is great and totally gets the vibe. Kudos to Nish for challenging the idea that austerity was unavoidable and the Lib Dems really didn't do themselves any favours by having someone on that argued that.

[@MsPaulathomas]

Nish is right to push back on austerity, as Prof. Mark Blyth points out in 'Austerity: the History of a Dangerous Idea' austerity is a political choice not an economic one. In fact it is bad choice economically as it shrinks the economy. In 2010 was not in a mess. There had been a crisis entirely caused by the banks four of whom had loans out that were 4 to 5 times the UK GDP..

[@jsrodman]

It's the natural consequence of the neoliberal ideology which has proven entirely bankrupt in plain view since 2008. Any politicians talking neoliberal talking points are the enemy of the change that needs to happen and will probably help to push power to deeply reactionary dangerous figures.

[@Jay_Johnson]

The Lib Dem politician in question should have stated it was the political consensus at the time and not that it was necessary (as demonstrated by Australia doing the opposite with debt fuelled stimulus). Every major party supported austerity in 2010. I remember the debates and reading the manifestos as it was the first election for which I was politically engaged.

[@swanchamp5136]

I like how Osborne himself admitted that austerity was a political choice and wasn't necessary a few years ago but you still have politicians wheeling it out like it was a necessity even now.

[@johnc_]

So its a scheme that forces young people to work for free for 104 days a year (assuming its 2 days a month) or they will blocked from all government jobs, which I assume includes the NHS, the largest employer in the UK (1.3 million in NHS England alone). Its a tax on time regardless of people's other commitments to working, unpaid care etc, its basically the poll tax but for time.

[@thecrimsondragon9744]

It’s a scheme alright. Another political harebrained scheme to try and cut corners and escape responsibility.

[@nichemphill8321]

For some context, the "No Money Left" note is a joke note that is a common thing that has often been left when the government has changed party. The Conservatives used that to punish the country with harsh austerity that did more harm than good and had future consequences

[@Aranel_Alasse]

When I was in sixth form, we could sign up to a scheme where we could leave school on Tuesday afternoons to volunteer and got a certificate for the number of hours we volunteered over the year that was helpful to put on job and university applications. I volunteered in a charity shop. I think incentivising young people to volunteer is a good thing, but forcing them to do unpaid labour in public services, especially emergency services that involve highly sensitive information and require a lot of training is absolutely bonkers! A much better way to help young people socialise would be more investment in leisure facilities and youth clubs/services.

[@Spamhard]

The thing is, I volunteered for SIX YEARS in my spare time, and it didn't aid me in getting any of my jobs whatsoever. Volunteering does very little for successful job applications unless you happen to be volunteering in the exact section you're applying for (which is usually unlikely). It just doesn't work like that, especially not in the job market in the last decade.

[@warhammerdad5961]

My son is unable to find a Saturday job because the high street is decimated.

[@JustAnotherPerson4U]

Not to mention so many shops want to hire overqualified people and make it harder if you don't have 'experience' even if it's an honest job like stacking shelves or boxes.

[@Nat-hc7pu]

I adore this podcast. Y'all are excellent hosts, and I love how you push back on the people you're interviewing. (I live in the USA these days and may have gotten too used to interviews that, well, don't.) Anyway this podcast has somehow (somehow because politics are bleak!) something I look forward to each week! Thank you for being a delight!

[@101Mant]

Lady say she doesnt like things with the wrong name, then calls it a volunteer scheme when it absolutely cant be. You cant be compelled to volunteer.

[@sophiepooks2174]

But you can under certain circumstances, we have privatized job agencies where I live, if you are unemployed you either volunteer for UNpayed work or they put you through bureaucratic hell and having to apply for 30 jobs a week, even if you are too old for the employers, or not qualified, or healthy enough to do any of them while living on $299 a week.

[@Illiteratechimp]

National service should be by incentive, not compulsory Compelling national service is terrible for mental health and fills the military with people who don't want to be there or shouldn't be there UK born, in the US Army, been in Korea and Israel who both have compulsory national service

[@jeffhatcher6585]

Imagine baby Sunak or any other Teen Tory being pressed into national service, and sharing a barrack / mess deck with 20+ plebs. They’d get more than their bubbles burst! As a former sailor, the Golden Rivet comes to mind. 😂😂😂

[@Cajek2]

Conservatives: Not. Even. Once. Not even for dog catcher. Never.

[@D-Dae]

For some reason a quote from the Starship Troopers movie popped into my mind when they talked about possible punishments for not taking part in the volunteer thing. "Service guarantees citizenship" Not sure why.

[@thedaftirishmangameing4902]

I work 80 hours a fortnight and still have no spare money to save as the economy is so backwards we k.ow how to fix this . We need a people party not a party to help the spoild children in parliament

[@jamesyeoman794]

Nish absolutely losing his shit at the end there is gonna live rent free in my mind for a good long while

[@RichWoods23]

Living rent free and vaginally dry.

[@georgewaters6424]

Outstanding show!!! Bring Liz Bates back again :) :) ( PS I know nothing about VG and can offer no tips whatsoever)

[@brianarmstrong3731]

Hi all, the Tory "triple lock plus" is not going to change my vote. I'm 68 so it certainly would benefit me. If the world falls through a worm hole into an alternative universe and the Tories get back in, AND this policy is implemented, I will donate anything extra that I get to The Green Party.

[@johnc_]

Worst of luck to all involved for bringing in something called national service with all it's connotations into Northern Ireland...

[@dh1380]

I totally see your point but in the grand scheme of things that is a drop in the bucket in terms of why this is a failed policy. That said, a lot of people including MPs seem to thing the issues with NI have gone away. They really haven't. The lid is on the pot but it's still boiling away. It wouldn't take much for it to boil over and national service DEFINITELY wouldn't help with exacerbating those tensions. It shows how London-centric and how disconnected the Tories are. Maybe they should spend some more time listening to their security advisors.

[@billyb7852]

Northern Ireland doesn’t exist to the Tories. They literally don’t give a fuck about NI, Scotland or Wales, nor the North of England.

[@metalhead2550]

Great job on Newsnight yesterday Coco!

[@pastyman001]

will volunteering pay towards Student Loans or rocketing rents and train fares? No!

[@musicman5075]

Tories triple lock + pensioner tax change. All this does is reduce for pensioners the impact of the tories long standing policy of freezing personal tax allowances and tax bands. This policy was introduced by this tory government as an insidious way of raising everyone's income tax rates over the years by increasing the amount of our income on which we pay tax. This policy affects all workers and is the reason we are now paying the highest tax rates as a proportion of income since the immediate post war period. Previous Labour governments increased personal allowances in line with inflation so someone on state pension would never find themselves subject to income tax.

[@pit_stop77]

I hope older people aren't swayed by jam next year. They need the NHS and social care to be working first

[@KThyme]

Nish! Don't you make us take Farage! We have enough problems in the US right now!

[@Vulcanerd]

When I go on a date, my opening line will be, “So nice to smell you”. Thanks Coco! 😄

[@AndrewMcColl]

I used to associate Ian Duncan Smith with IBS for acronym reasons. Not any more.

[@anderji]

Rishi saw Yes Prime Minister and said: "why not?!"

[@anfearaerach]

Will be fun to ask people in the North of Ireland to join the British Army.

[@nicka3697]

If you want to encourage actual volunteering and social cohesion then a compulsory scheme mismanaged by the state where kids are forced to go once a month where they will spend the whole day not knowing what they are supposed to be doing, being in the way and texting their mates on how shit their day is, is probably not the way to go. I think they should maybe look up the word volunteering in the dictionary it is clear our autocrats don't know the meaning of the word.

[@jonathand.mcnaughton4205]

Tories really found the A+ answer for “how to lose an election”

[@HFEpro]

because taking away young people's time to socialize will absolutely help them socialize.

[@djohnston6856]

Stop saying kids. They're 18 year old and will have other responsibilities.

[@Rnankn]

Make the millionaires and billionaires pay their taxes in hard labour for underfunded public services (at the prevailing wage rate), then maybe the youth can pitch in a hand if they decide to take pity on the curmudgeons.

[@peterdollins3610]

1960 I worked the GWR Steam Engines. My Driver was in the rear guard at Dunkirk & my Uncles fought in everything. We heard from ex-NS men of the grim, boring, waste of time NS. I was happy to miss it. My father complained NS turned men into cynical skivers. Military spending has fallen from 2.5% under Labour to 2% or less under Tories so the US military recently rated the UK military as no longer First rate but Second rate. I suspect this distraction gimmick is, in part, designed to cover over this reality.

[@irenecentelles3676]

Spanyiard here. Does the UK doesn't offer erasmus anymore?

[@SilverSprings1997]

I wonder where Sunak got the idea for mandatory service.

[@Redsox4444443]

NO!!!! We don’t want Farage!!!! We have enough of our own problems!!!! Is this pay back for Yorktown? Why must you do this to us?

[@Jay_Johnson]

Maybe stop being so rich and you wouldn’t attract all of our corrupt morally bankrupt ex-politicians. CPAC next year is going to be full of Tories who lost their seats with speeches from Boris, Liz, Sunak, Farage and Anderson.

[@RichWoods23]

The Battle of Yorktown was won by the French. Because their troop ships hadn't been lost in Chesapeake Bay, we should be sending our most malign politicians to France instead. Oh, wait, Farage and co are doing that anyway... It's almost like the right-wingers care only about their nationalistic tendencies and not their individual nationalisms.

[@andrewcarson5850]

It's the tea, buddy, it's always going to be the tea. You can't just dump a whole shipment into the Boston Harbour and expect us Brits to forgive you.

[@Redsox4444443]

@@andrewcarson5850 fair enough.

[@donnagray9579]

I think IDS may also be a principal cause of IBS😏

[@SecnarfWobneb]

So how do young people benefit from unpaid labour in systems that the Tories nearly destroyed due to lack of investment? Do they get to repeat the first aid course they just did for their driving licence?

[@lornaandrewes3611]

All these voluntary jobs will require participants to have their police checks done,surely,as they’ll be working with vulnerable people. Logistically impossible. Also, the Tories can promise pretty much anything, because they know they’re going to lose, and will never get called out for not delivering

[@bensolo2000]

Wow - lib dem justifying austerity! And then still going on about a stupid joke about no money :-( and shes my mp :-(

[@reverance_pavane]

wasn't there a Yes Prime Minister episode about this very issue.

[@appleproduct1524]

I'm an American, we don't have any discussion remotely approaching such a thing. With that said, I really fail to see how it's much of a bad idea in the current geopolitical environment. Most of our enemies have conscription, I don't think it's a big deal to introduce some limited form of it. I might even consider it responsible in the current moment, as politically unpopular as it is. At least a limited form that teaches the public the basics of firearm handling, military procedure, designating roles ahead of time, and other things of such a nature.

[@barryledgister4496]

Yeh, throw ideas out there...accept the idea and refine it, remodel it or reject the idea...it`s called `thinking`. The UK has definitely had--under Labour or Conservatives--schemes whereby unemployed 16 year olds can work while retaining their benefits, but not get a wage. If you offered an unemployed 16 year old board and lodging in a conscription based scheme miles from home by the sea somewhere they`d jump at the chance. Thrown in a 50% of the minimum wage salary, they`d be begging you where to sign....and they`d come out of it with some employment skills.

[@jamesmarshall6619]

also as an America, forcing young people into service in which old people don't have to do is dumb and wrong. As a person in his late 40s, constantly asking young people to sacrifice for older generations just shows the narcissism and arrogance of older generations. This is simply a way to get cheap labor for older generations. Most of our enemies also don't have a military close to be being as strong as the US despite mandatory conscription so that's not even a good argument. It's a bad idea because it's not solving any actual problems for younger people, it's asking people who already don't have much and starting their lives, to sacrifice more for people who already have quite a bit and who don't have to participate.

[@SusanOnTVShows]

Why are we saying WTFuck? If you going to say the swear word then why not all of them?

[@nickcharnley19]

i was lucky enough, to coach a sporting group, from 5 threw to 16. both male and female, until the realities of physicalities kicked in. I believe watching this lot grow up, they are kind, bright and awesome. a structured pathway of throwing back in, is not a bad idea. If the world is going to hell in a handbasket. i would rather me than them. They are covid generation, they will probably come through it, we shall see

[@Teramin1]

I would actually push back on the idea that enforced volunteering is a good plan even without the nonsense military element. We have it where I live in Canada as a requirement for secondary school graduation and I don't know a single person who discovered a love of volunteering through it. In general I've noticed it actually has the opposite effect, people do their 40 required hours and then feel like they've "done their time" and almost never do more. It essentially trades a week of free work on the backs of young people for our desire to ever help out again.

[@vanessah5217]

I actually have a couple of questions: 1) What's the current situation legally and in lived experience like at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland? Will or should this be a topic for the election? 2) I know that some of the political power was devolved to parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But England still has to go to Westminster which is for responsible for all of the UK as I understand it. Do all MPs from all over the UK then get to vote on issues that concern England only or are there special sessions for just English MPs? Would love it if you could clear this up for me. 3) Is there a pact between parties to change the first past the post system to a different way of allocation seats to represent vote shares for parties, too (e.g. Germany) Greetings from Germany, love to listen to the pod to keep updated and have a bit of laugh 🤗

[@desertels5119]

Northern Ireland is always an after thought in England - look at Brexit. The EU boarder issue has settled for the most part now. Legally its still an open boarder but some products are marked 'not for EU'. National service would not be met well by anyone who isn't marching on the 12th July and would be badly in places closer to the boarder. The government has recently reformed After a collapse in 2017. The DUP used the sea boarder as an excuse not to form a government with Sinn Féin who had won more seats than them for the first time in 2022.

[@Frithogar]

From my point of view, Scotland looks more interested in persecuting Trans Women than striving to achieve independence. I guess the election will show which direction they are going to take.

[@pit_stop77]

Scotland is a haven compared to England and the tories

[@swiftlymurmurs]

@@pit_stop77 God but the bar is just so, so very low

[@Frithogar]

@@pit_stop77@pit_stop77 Let's see how Scotland fairs under a dicta-labour-ship if that party keeps on its current direction.

[@peacefulltoucan]

"Have we made mistaked? Yes. Have we learnt from our mistakes? Yes." Pretty rich to say immediately after propping up austerity politics. Never trust a Lib Dem.

[@nataliegregory4273]

Scottish voter here- if we vote for Scottish Greens, we don’t have to “park independence” I’m just concerned that taking that punt with mean my vote is wasted…I don’t know anyone else here who will vote green.

[@stevenhodgson4227]

I am an OAP and I object to the term "asset rich" to describe my situation. I have a moderate type home with a small mortgage. It is my HOME! I live on a pension and I am definitely not rich. It may be an asset in theory, but if I sell it I have nowhere to live.

[@BardianAngel]

I throw away half my pay every month on a place I don't own. That's money i'm never getting back. Relatively speaking, owning a home does make you asset rich. That may not have been the case 40 years ago, but that's just how the landscape has shifted.

[@barryledgister4496]

@@BardianAngel As the OP says he`d be homeless if he sold his asset. An asset is something extra that if you sold it, you`d be better off with all your other `assets` intact. Lord Alan Sugar is a pensioner who is asset rich. He sells the yacht, he still has the two homes and three cars, and can buy an extra runaround for his wife with the money from the asset he`s sold.

[@BardianAngel]

@@barryledgister4496 "An asset is something extra that if you sold it, you`d be better off with all your other `assets` intact." Since when has that been the definition of asset? It's just a valuable resource. Which a home absolutely is. I also said relatively speaking after describing my own situation. Pulling Alan sugar out is to completely misunderstand me.

[@edmurth]

The idea that the Lib Dem’s went into coalition for the country is for the birds. The Tories would have been a minority government and parliament would have continued.

[@Neddoest]

9:45 what’s a “Saturday job”??

[@Bluesayshello1]

We’ll try to keep Farage if you keep Rishi

[@AndyHarwood-y1g]

I've still got my greencard,America here I come.

[@teddybearington3]

❤❤❤

[@idrinkcoffeeandknowthings]

Two of my fave british south asians love u guys❤ gonna support my ppl because you guys are decent too

[@LelahWells]

Hi!

[@Kat_Treasure]

i’m gen z the labour memes are driving me genuinely insane and i’m afraid that the tories r gonna do the same thing and im never gonna be able to look at a meme again. i NEVER want people to be serious or normal but i am begging politicians to be normal with an ounce of awareness for ONCE lmao.

[@shadebug]

It’s not national service, it’s national Duke of Edinburgh award

[@hippobed2849]

As a newly eligible voter is it bad I want to keep Sunak in so he. Any go and enjoy California freely ?

[@alanburke1893]

For centuries Britain invested in its Navy as a force-multiplying projection of power to great success. Invoking land-force power now is the last desperate act of Tory nihilism... after Brexit..let's invoke the biggest lie of WW2...that Britain could sustain a large-scale contintental force. Sad... but probably inevitable. Just admit to 2nd tier status..and look to Sweden

[@soton5teve]

r/UKCitizenArmy

[@williamotoole1210]

I listened with interest to Nish and his puff piece interview with that poor LibDem lady. Not. He did not miss her with a single point .Go Nish. I hope some other politicians of a similar stripe come on the pod ,and, get Nished right up. Keep on keeping on .

[@EdwardLindon]

Perhaps you have misunderstood the meaning of the phrase "puff piece".

[@williamotoole1210]

@@EdwardLindon perhaps you have no concept of ironic humour?

[@johnc_]

Thank you very much to Christine for convincing me not to vote for the libdems

[@karenjeanmooney-kelleher8583]

Poor Ian Duncan smith

[@idio-syncrasy]

I would say dressing like a centric sad is pretty eccentric.

[@ReedoTV]

"Hey fellow kids! We just dodged the draft too!"

[@PaulHudson-gi4qx]

Iain Duncan Smith couldn't give a rat's arse for the menopause or the problems that women might suffer because of it. His choice of a rugby club, of all the possibilities, to host such an event shows exactly how much thought he has put into women's issues.

[@coralink]

Duncan smith is a knob bucket but how is the fact it's being held at a rugby club an issue? Would it only be representative of womens issues if it was held at a garden centre?

[@jeffparker1617]

National service is dumb, but it ended in the 1960s, so it should resume from there, people who were 18 in 1960 can now do their service.

[@juanvaldez7279]

One year in the Military or 25 days playing a Bobbie I.R.L. this sounds wierd or is it just me.

[@ExhaustedWombat]

Hey guys, I’m hoping you address the Faiza Shaheen situation on the next show. Looks like Starmer is letting down marginalised voices again and while he has dealt with the “anti-Semitic” issue in the party seems more than happy to engage in a little Islamophobia.

[@kittybluett8887]

Plus there game is rugby

[@carlrose4877]

It's infuriating how the leaders are referred to: Sunak is "Rishi," whereas Kier is always "Starmer"

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

Lol

[@EmyrianMusic]

I don't live in the UK, so I'm curious, does Christine Jardine come off as genuine to UK voters? "Vote for us if you want to change the people in government" sounds to me an awful like the American Democrat party running on the "We're not Trump" platform.

[@EmyrianMusic]

I'm not taking a stance here, and I certainly understand the Tories as generally terrible at governing, just genuinely curious how this reads in the political landscape across the pond.

[@miravlix]

Is the intro supposed to be a moist dream? I have to say I think you might need to be rescued as you seem to be drowning. Your brain is so wet it's wrinkled, that you need to get out of the water.

[@wendyflores1092]

WTF.........

[@billyb7852]

This feels like a Donald Trump policy. He thought it up on a post-it note. Said it aloud, and now has to pretend it was more than a half baked vote-grabbing idea.

[@Elspm]

As a Scottish voter, sorry, Keir Starmer is the primary cause of my vaginal dryness. I'm pissed off with the SNP in Holyrood, but they've been OK in Westminster. It's then or greens.

[@northcountrybhoy]

Yeah Labour are as bad as the tories. Worse almost. Snp in UK Green in Scottish elections for me.

[@shrui]

I'm hearing nothing from Labour that will be the meaningful change the UK needs for me to support Scotland remaining in the UK. In some ways it's steering further away. If labour gains seats in Scotland its because the SNP messed up - not because Labour have made any kind of case for themselves or the union. They aren't tories, thats the only thing going for them or the lib dems right now.

[@Trendycosmetics-os6gh]

What's hypocrisy is whoever added this video here not understanding the national service for it is actually a benefit but most people are so delusional that they don't really get to know benefits. Sunak is not like Starmer who just does something without thinking about the risks. Sunak cares and this is not nonsense. Look in the mirror. Sunak has done a lot for our country for he cares and he will win GE because of this too. Starmer is evil. Get a life and credit Sunak instead

[@dans9038]

Man, this has got old so very quickly

[@derronhall495]

What does she smell like?

[@chrisw125]

Liz4pm

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

National service is a dead cat,

[@rusty911s2]

Brilliant: a fab trio that makes me laugh out loud. Also Lib Dems and not a squeak of the EU. Lib Dems without rejoin surely equals: what's the point?

[@EdwardLindon]

Lib Dems always equals "What's the point?", with an occasional "Those c#@ts!"

[@DRKrust492]

National service isn't generational warfare. Don't be hysterical.