Although the government has so far ruled out the possibility of national service or conscription, it has been widely argued by experts that if tensions were to escalate and Britain found themselves in a war with Russia, the armed forces would need to enforce conscription to bolster their ranks.
Fears are growing that ongoing Russian aggression could spark major conflict across Europe and conscription in the UK has been a hotly discussed topic nationwide.
The last conscription in the UK was more than eight decades ago during World War 2 and, just like then, certain call-up exemptions would occur if another global war was to break out.
A Defence Select Committee said over the weekend that a war between the UK and Russia would lead to a general mobilisation of troops, last seen more than 80 years ago during World War 2.
Back in the 1940s, profession, age and medical conditions were all factors in determining who was exempt from military service and who was not.
People employed across certain industries vital to keeping the country running would be exempt from the draft and it is likely the same rules would apply if WW3 was to break out.
When could conscription happen?
Mike Martin, an Afghanistan Veteran and the Lib Dem MP for Tunbridge Wells previously said if we were to go to war with Russia, the country would have to bring back conscription.
He said: “There’s a significant chance that it [war with Russia] might happen so we must be prepared.
“Obviously, if we get involved in a general war with Russia, we’ll be conscripting the population – there’s no question about that.”
However, former British Military Intelligence Colonel Philip Ingram MBE told JOE the country is a long way from bringing back mandatory military service.
He said: “There would have to be a massive deterioration in the geopolitical environment across the world [for us to bring in conscription].
“That massive deterioration suggesting that, not just the UK, but multiple organisations are on a path to war, possibly a declaration of war, or us getting directly involved in some heavy shooting conflicts.
“Now, I’ve been at this game for over 40 years, up until last year, I never saw a clear path. There’s always barriers in the way to there being a large conflict. I can now see clear paths. So that’s the slightly worrying thing.”
The former Army officer, who joined the forces as an 18-year-old in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers before transferring to the Intelligence Corps, set out what would need to happen first before the general population would be asked to step up.
“Before we start to see any emergency legislation being put into parliament, we’d see the regular forces have their increased readiness.
“We’d see elements of them being deployed overseas, and we’d see the reserve forces starting to be called up, and not just in the way that they’ve been called up to support operations beforehand in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and the rest of it. It would be a massive call up of the reserve forces.
“Then you’ve got an additional element to the reserve, which are those regular military who have recently retired and still remain with a liability for call up, and we start to hear discussions about them being called in. This is all before there’d be anything that would say to the general population, ‘right folks, you’re next!’”
Professions
During WW2, professions such as baking, farming, medicine, coal mining and engineering were exempt from conscription.
However, any professions exempt today would likely reflect the modern era.
Colonel Ingram said: “It’s getting that balance between getting sufficient people to come and fill the armed forces and having sufficient people to keep the essential industries of the country running.
“Individuals that are running our critical national infrastructure, so our nuclear power plants, our other power plants, running our railways, because they’re needed to transport logistics and goods.
“People who are in the emergency services, police, doctors, nurses, unless they’ve got a reserve commitment.
“But there’d be exemptions for people working in the defence industry – there’s no point in calling someone up who’s critical to manufacturing tanks or ammunition or other bits and pieces.
“So it’s a very wide ranging list that would be put together, but that would have would be something that has to be included in any legislation and every government will have, as part of this contingency planning, draft legislation that’s there, so they’re not starting off with a blank sheet of paper. That will already be drafted.”
Age
Conscription in WW2 initially only applied to men aged between 20 and 21. However, it was quickly expanded to include all men between the ages of 18 and 41.
The British government introduced the National Service Act in 1948 to cover conscription in peacetime.
That meant that men aged between 17 and 21 had to do military service for 18 months and were also put on the reserve list for four years.
Medical
Certain medical conditions could also make you exempt from conscription. Currently, the British Army has a long list of medical conditions which make you ineligible for military service including eyesight problems and hearing impairments.
Neurological conditions, severe skin conditions, psychiatric and cardiovascular issues could also provide grounds for exemption. Those with bone or joint problems, such as chronic knee injuries, shoulder problems and a history of bone fractures, could also dodge the draft.
Current recruitment problems
According to the latest data covering the 12 months to 30 September 2024, the average time between application and starting basic training was 249 days for the Army, 279 days for the Royal Navy and 301 days for the Royal Air Force.
Colonel Ingram gave insight into how the Ministry of Defence are trying to combat that problem going forward.
He said: “There’s a massive delay because there was a very big contract given to an organisation called Capita. They were not proactive. They brought in delays that were unnecessary, and the government recognised that.
“What the government has done is it’s taken the contract and it’s now given it to Serco.
“They’ve brought in a new Armed Forces recruitment service that’s launching in 2027 but the work’s going on now to replace the individual schemes that were being run by the Navy, the Army and the Air Force – you weren’t getting the coherence between all of them.
“They’ve set themselves some quite stringent targets, from people applying, to getting them in. So for example, if someone applies, they’re to get a conditional offer within 10 days, and they’re to get a date when they’re going to start training within 30 days of their application.
“Now that’s from 2027 but it’s like anything in defence, it is a super tanker. It takes time to change things. So between now and 2027 we’ve got this handover between Capita and Serco where we have to find sticking plasters.”
Colonel Ingram said the Army is putting 400 troops in recruitment centres, as they look at ways of encouraging people to come through the doors but claims low unemployment rates and negative news stories about the services are impacting the recruitment drive.
“Whenever you have got very low unemployment and high job opportunities, then getting people to come and join the military is really quite difficult.
“It is also affected by a lot of the negative stories that we hear and the way they’re being dealt with. For example, the RAF – the sexual scandals around the red arrows last year, in the Royal Navy – the rape scandal that went on, the army – the suicide of Jaysley Beck, those have a very negative impact on recruitment.
“What the government is trying to do is deal with that through policy. Policy has failed, but what they’re now bringing in is an armed forces commissioner to try and deal with a lot of these issues. But it will take time, that’s the difficulty, and the global geopolitical situation is becoming more unstable very quickly.”
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