I see CCHQ is doubling down on this today despite Starmer clearly being out campaigning in Brighton yesterday. Straight out of the Trump playbook. 👎🏻

I would love to hear from the architects of the national service plan about their own experiences volunteering. There’s no better way to make the case for that sort of thing – I think it could open a lot of minds.

Pure schadenfreude for those of us who warned Brexiteers were promiting it all on a wing and a prayer with zero evidence to support their sunlit uplands promises.

This is a really good and fair summary of Farage.

A minister has said that the Conservative's new national service scheme was 'sprung on' MPs and candidates without consultation

Steve Baker, an NI minister, said that the policy 'was developed by a political adviser or advisers and sprung on candidates, some of whom are

Congratulations to the Telegraph for managing to find a private school that’s closing and attempting to to pin it on Labour🙄

But is it true that it’s closing under a Tory government because of a Labour policy that hasn’t happened yet?

Here’s a little 🧵

You decide!

1/11

Quite aside from the merits, the optics are terrible 🙄

Labour's offer to young people...

Votes at 16 🗳️

The Conservatives...

Compulsory National Service 🪖

Rt. Hon Ben Wallace Barrie Cummings Mike Jackson Any thoughts on this from just FOUR DAYS AGO?

NEW: Sunak’s pledge to reintroduce compulsory UK national service, including assigning up to 30,000 18-year-olds to the military, was rejected *this week* by one of *his own defence ministers*

Defence personnel minister Andrew Murrison warned of a hit to morale, headcount and

Election so far this morning:

* Minister refuses to rule out fining parents if their children decline to take part in Conservative's new national service scheme

* Labour says private schools blaming plans to impose VAT on school fees for financial woes are 'a bit desperate'

So far answers to this have included;

* no sanctions
* possible fines
* no access to public sector jobs without it
* Royal commission will figure it out

Looking forward to seeing if we can add fo the list today.

As I keep on saying, people are very naive to be so complacent about these numbers.

It's an awful lot easier to find a couple of days a month to volunteer when you're retired. Make it compulsory from 55-60 and before being able to draw down any state or private pension. Watch the reaction then

A Prime Minister who had served in the armed forces might - *MIGHT* - be able to sell bringing back national service with a straight face.

But a billionaire who made a fortune betting against the UK economy in the financial crisis? Not a chance.

Hiya gang, I'm running - well, hopping - to be the Liberal Democrats MP for Royal Sutton Coldfield, to unseat 'Sir' Andrew Mitchell - sorry, he's just a pleb like the rest of us - and to fly the flag for individual liberty, honest government and not being horrid to people less fortunate

A few years ago our children could work, travel and live all over Europe. Now they're being told they are 'snowflakes' and should 'do National Service' by a generation that has failed them, failed the planet, failed us all.

#Brussels | Foreign Minister HH Prince فيصل بن فرحان: it is absolutely necessary that Israel accepts that it cannot exist without the existence of a Palestinian State.

WOW!!! The Lincoln Project just released this new ad SLAMMING Donald Trump for being the first president to be fond of Hitler and the Nazis. This is scathing. The Trump campaign is a complete disaster!

Ah yes that was the aspect of the policy I was most worried about. Confirmed my worst fears.

BBC fact-check the Conservative Party's Home Secretary

They explain how James Cleverly lied on national TV

'James Cleverly told you that if you exclude London from statistics on knife crime, the number of offences are falling.. But knife crime is up in almost half police crime