UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has revealed his first new policy leading up to the general election.
The Conservative Party will bring back mandatory service, giving 18-year-olds the choice of either joining the military full-time, or volunteering one weekend every month carrying out a community service.
Sunak said he believed the service would help young people learn "real-world skills, do new things and contribute to their community and our country", as well as fostering "national spirit".
"This is a great country, but generations of young people have not had the opportunities or experience they deserve and there are forces trying to divide our society in this increasingly uncertain world," Sunak said.
"I have a clear plan to address this and secure our future. I will bring in a new model of national service to create a shared sense of purpose among our young people and a renewed sense of pride in our country."
The party said the national service would also help divert at-risk young people away from "lives of unemployment and crime".
It's the first new policy announcement made by Sunak since he called an early general election for July 4.
The Conservatives added the service would provide "valuable work experience" and "ignite a passion for a future career in healthcare, public service, charity or the armed forces".
His party, which has been in power since 2010, has consistently followed behind the opposing Labour Party in polls since January 2022.
A Labour spokesperson described the plan to BBC as "another desperate £2.5 billion (NZ$5.1 billion) unfunded commitment".
"This is not a plan - it's a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories [Conservatives] hollowed out the armed forces to their smallest size since Napoleon," they said.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson and MP Richard Foord accused the party of making "damaging cuts" to defence forces.
"If the Conservatives were serious about defence, they would reverse their damaging cuts to our world-class professional armed forces, instead of decimating them," he said.
"Our armed forces were once the envy of the world."
Cuts in the British Army have seen its size plummet from over 100,000 in 2010 to around 73,000 as of January 2024.
