The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP has slammed the Conservative's plans to introduce mandatory national service for young people.

If Rishi Sunak wins the election this July, the Prime Minister said all 18-year-olds will be legally required to take up either a 12-month placement in the armed forces or cyber defence or give up the equivalent of one weekend a month to volunteer in their communities.

The Labour candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth, Debbie Abrahams, has criticised the Tory plan, calling it an "attempt to distract from their disastrous record on defence" and "something nobody can expect them to deliver".

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Since 2010, the opposition say the Conservatives have cut defence spending, missed recruitment targets every year, removed one in five ships from the Royal Navy and taken 200 aircraft out of service in the last five years alone.

This has left the Armed Forces "hollowed out and underfunded" and resulted in the Army being cut to its smallest size "since Napoleon". 

The MP added: "The Tories have failed our forces for 14 years.

"Their National Service is a distraction from the Conservative's disastrous record on defence, which will not deliver.

"Since 2010, our forces have been 'hollowed out and underfunded', cut by almost 50k full-time personnel and seen morale plummet to record lows.

"Every day, families across Britain are paying the price of Tory chaos. It's time for change with Labour; to end the chaos, rebuild Britain, and secure Britain's defence for the future."

Home Secretary James Cleverly insisted the programme was aimed at getting teenagers “out of their bubble” because too many “don’t mix with people of different religions, they don’t mix with different viewpoints”.

He said that nobody would be “sent to jail” for refusing to comply with the proposed scheme after questions arose over whether teenagers would be punished for not taking part in community work.

The Tories have said this volunteering could include organisations such as police, fire and NHS services or charities tackling loneliness and helping elderly vulnerable people.

The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.

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