A senior government minister dismissed the idea of bringing back conscription to the UK this morning.
Although is Europe looking to boost its security amid worries about the Ukraine crisis, Pat McFadden rejected the suggestion of introducing compulsory state service.
It comes after Latvia’s president Edgars Rinkevics told Sky News that his country has introduced conscription again, in case Vladimir Putin returns to seize more European land even after striking a peace deal in Ukraine.
He said: “If Russia is allowed to regroup, then the risks are rising.”
Rinkevics said that means Europe should therefore “increase its overall presence” to the east, especially as it is “quite weak” militarily right now.
He claimed other European nations should “absolutely” introduce the emergency measure.
However, speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, cabinet office minister McFadden said: “We are not considering conscription, but of course we have announced a major increase in defence expenditure a couple of weeks ago.”
The government recently announced plans to boost defence spending from its current level of 2.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2.5% by 2027.
Labour also hopes to get it to 3% of GDP by the next parliament, if re-elected.
The move came after US president Donald Trump said Europe had to be more responsible for its own security and could no longer rely on the States to prop it up militarily.
McFadden continued: “We do have to recognise that the world has changed. The phrase ‘step up’ is used a lot. Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence.
“President Trump isn’t actually the first president to say that, but he said it more loudly and with more force than his predecessors so, I think we have got to recognise that moment.”
He added that the shift seen in the global order in recent weeks means it is “important we don’t cling to old assumptions”.
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster added: “Other decisions may be needed in the future which respond to a new reality so we don’t find ourselves operating under the same assumptions as we used to in the past when the situation has changed.”
McFadden refused to offer any further details, saying a defence review published this spring would set out a “roadmap” about how the new cash injection would be spent.
But he noted: “One thing is for sure, you would not spend money today on the same things as you would 10 years ago.
“The experience of the three years of the war in Ukraine has shown just how fast the battlefield is changing in terms of cyber, drones, the use of intelligence.”
Conscription was introduced in Britain in 1916, during World War 1, and again in 1939, after declaring war against Germany.
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