The SNP is urging voters to complete a “Scottish National Service” – by voting against Rishi Sunak and his Conservatives.
It comes after the Prime Minister announced that if he wins the July 4 General Election, he will bring in a new policy which would see 18-year-olds either having to join the military for 12 months or voluntary work for one weekend a month for a year.
That could see teenagers either helping local fire, police and NHS services, or potentially working with charities tackling loneliness and supporting elderly people.
Speaking about his first major policy pledge of the campaign, Mr Sunak said the initiative would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world” and give young people a “shared sense of purpose”.
However, SNP candidate for Gordon and Buchan Richard Thomson claimed the “Sunak service” proposed by the Tories would take the country “back to the 1950s”.
He said: “Not content with destroying the hopes and aspirations of a generation of young people, the Tories now want to take them back to the 1950s with their National Service plans.
“Scotland wants no part in a Sunak service, which the Tories have even admitted will slash tens of millions of pounds of ‘shared prosperity’ funding to Scotland.”
Mr Thomson added: “With the SNP the main challenger in every Tory-held seat, we are asking Scottish voters to raise your pens, vote SNP, and do your Scottish National Service to boot the Tories out.
“Douglas Ross may think this a great opportunity for our young people, but the greatest opportunity they have is on July 4 when they can boot out Tory MPs by voting SNP.”
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