Free uni fees and gangs trained for war - how conscription may look 'in 6 years'

30 January 2024 , 10:46

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Military officials have said Brits need to prepare to fight in a world war, but the PM has shut down plans for conscription (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images)

Conscription in the UK could involve offering free higher education and training street gangs to enlist in the military, a world affairs expert has told the Mirror.

Last week, the head of the Army General Sir Patrick Sanders said British civilians would need to prepare to fight Russia in a future war and a shift in the mentality of the everyday person is needed. However, on the same day, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said No 10 did not agree, adding: "The British military has a proud position of being a voluntary force. As I say, there's no plan for conscription."

As military tensions continue to rise around the world, Professor Anthony Glees, security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, explains what World War Three may look like for Britain. He believes the UK should look into ways to incentivise young Brits, such as employing street gangs who "understand the meaning of community", and offering "free higher education" to study subjects that have a "defence purpose".

General Sir Patrick Sanders has warned ordinary Brits will be called up to fight if UK goes to war (PA)

PM Rishi Sunak ruled out conscription and insisted military service will remain voluntary (PA)

Prof Glees told the Mirror: "First of all, we should - now, today - identify groups of motivated young Brits, aged 18 to 28 say, who would be prepared to train to fight for our way of life. They should be 'incentivised volunteers'. We could, for example, offer them free higher education if they studied a subject that had a defence purpose, say cyber security, or weapons technologies, for three years, or a 50 percent reduction if they studied something of less importance to us or free further education."

The British historian continued: "I believe there are plenty of motivated young Brits who do understand that sometimes you do have to fight for your country, as the brave people of Ukraine have learned to their cost." Prof Glees explained that unless Putin loses in Ukraine or is deterred from carrying on, a "wider conscription might be necessary - just as in the Second World War". The UK has used conscription twice in the past during WW1 and WW2 while it continued national service up until the 1960s.

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Previously, people have been chosen for conscription based on age, sex, and jobs, and have been excluded if they suffer from certain medical conditions. Earlier this month, a top NATO chief said civilians must be ready for an all-out war with Russia within the next 20 years. Admiral Rob Bauer said: "It is the whole of society that will get involved whether we like it or not. That realisation, we didn't talk about that a year ago." The Dutch military chief said governments need to be "war ready".

Professor Anthony Glees believes the Government should incentivise young Brits to join the Armed Forces with immediate effect (DPA/PA Images)

Prof Glees added: "In 1970, when the world was probably less dangerous than it is today, we had almost 400,000 members of our Armed Forces and we spent 5.4 percent of our GDP on defence. Now, it's 74,000 and falling steadily. All the cyber, all the miracle drones in the world are no substitute for boots on the ground in a conventional war." While Minister of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey has dubbed the idea of conscription "nonsense", Prof Glees believes the whole nation "should prepare for conscription within six years".

As well as encouraging young adults to join the Army through education, the prof suggested targeting street gangs. "I think military structure discipline and values of decency and comradeship might also appeal to some of the aimless and dispossessed stalking our streets with knives right now," he claimed, adding that the UK could "replace the gangs" by enlisting young adults who "understand the meaning of community and protecting our way of life".

The results of a YouGov poll last week found that 38 percent of under-40s would not be prepared to fight for Britain in the event of a world war, and 30 percent would not serve even if the country was facing imminent invasion. However, Prof Glees shut down the query of a "new world war, which might begin as a nuclear strike but would certainly end as a nuclear holocaust" and said it's about "preventing a conventional war". "This is about deterring Russia from waging a conventional war in Europe," he explained.

The British historian said unless Vladimir Putin loses in Ukraine, or is deterred from war, a 'wider conscription might be necessary' (Getty Images)

Discussing the possibility of a nuclear war versus a conventional war, Prof Glees said: "Our nuclear weapons and Nato's nuclear weapons in general deter Russia, China, and North Korea from waging a nuclear war... No one could win a nuclear war." Instead, he believes, "the two wars that currently threaten our security here in the UK, in Ukraine and the Middle East, are both being fought conventionally", meaning with Armed Forces.

"Conscription is about preventing Russia from unleashing a general conventional war in Europe," he claims, adding: "If Putin realises we are not going to be a soft touch, he will be deterred." Last week, Vladimir Putin's security chief Dmitry Medvedev vowed that Russia will do everything in its power to ensure its enemies "disappear from the face of the Earth forever". On Sunday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he fears the Ukrainian conflict will be the "beginning of the Third World War" if Russia strikes a Nato country.

Last week, British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps warned that we are moving "from a post-war to a pre-war world" and said that in the next five years, there might be wars involving China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Prof Glees believes conscription will be one way of demonstrating to Putin that the UK will "not let him dominate Europe". He said: "[Putin] knows that if Trump is elected in November, the chances of the USA removing itself from Nato will greatly increase his chances of success. So deterrence is about now, and about tomorrow."

Nia Dalton