Tories challenged on policy of national service for teens

The Conservatives are facing fresh questions over Rishi Sunak's flagship national service policy amid increasing confusion about how the scheme will work.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

Defence secretary Grant Shapps has been accused of plunging the promise into chaos with multiple TV appearances in which he appeared to change course on how the military aspect will be implemented.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey has written to Mr Shapps demanding answers about whether the scheme is “fully costed, fully funded, deliverable and clearly set out to the public”. He said ministers are “making it up as they go along” and called the plan a “distraction from their failures in defence over 14 years”.

In a letter seen by The Independent, the long-serving Labour MP said Mr Shapps had thrown the general election pledge into confusion and called for him to come clean. The Tory manifesto sets out that every 18-year-old in the UK will be given the choice between a year of civic service or military service.