Ex-MI6 boss becomes latest to call for conscription to fight Russia
People in Sweden must complete an enlistment form when they turn 18.
A former head of MI6 said the UK needs a ‘wake-up call’ and should follow in the footsteps of Sweden’s conscription system.
Sir Alex Younger, who was chief of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2014 to 2020, argued that the UK government should, in exceptional circumstances, have the power to compel people ‘to give their service one way or another’.
He recommended following Sweden’s model, in which people have to complete an enlistment form when they turn 18, though only some of them are then called up to complete basic training in military service.
He pointed to its success when it was reintroduced in 2017 after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014.
Speaking on the BBC’s The Today Podcast, Sir Alex said: ‘Ultimately, in extremis, I think we’d be looking at something like the model I understand exists in places like Sweden, where the government theoretically has the power to compel people to give their service one way or another but doesn’t exercise it except in areas where it’s really needed.
‘You’ll notice on that list is not everyone being called up and going to the drafting station, I think that’s extremely unlikely.’
Sir Alex said he didn’t agree with ‘blanket conscription’, but he is interested in ‘ways in which the broader country would participate and contribute to security in a time of an emergency’.
He added that he thinks the UK needs to changes its thinking around defence to be more aligned with Eastern European countries like Poland, Lithuania and Estonia.
He continued: ‘I think in some ways those are people [bordering Russia] that have been mugged by reality, and I think I am a person that has been mugged by reality.
‘And I’m a liberal through and through – I want to live in a world where we don’t have to think about this stuff.
‘But I’m bound to say that we seem to have convinced ourselves somehow that the advantages we have and the values that are shot through our country are kind of natural and don’t need defending.
‘And I think we’re in for a rude shock. And by contrast, if we do decide that we want to defend them, the need to do so probably goes down.’
Back in January, head of the British Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, said Britain should train a ‘citizen army’ ready to fight on land in a future war.
It triggered a debate at the time around whether Britain should re-introduce some form of conscription, but Downing Street rejected the idea.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.