The Conservative campaign pledge to introduce mandatory national service is still dominating the news two days on. Many of Monday’s front pages carry details or questions over the practicality of the policy. There are also questions about what sanctions 18-year-olds would face for refusing to take part in community service or take part in a twelve-month armed forces placement. Officially, this is one for the royal commission to decide (if Sunak is somehow prime minister after 4 July) – but ideas floating around include being blocked from civil service jobs, fines or credits in relation to university applications.
There is plenty of bad will in the Tory party
However, the more immediate problem for Sunak here is once again his party. As Fraser and I discussed on Sunday’s Coffee House Shots, several MPs and ministers have privately voiced concerns and bemusement since the policy was announced. Now one has gone public. Step forward Steve Baker. The Northern Ireland minister has today suggested that the policy was dreamed up by campaign staff and goes against the government policy: ‘It’s a Conservative party policy. The government’s policy was set out on Thursday.’ Baker is referring to his colleague Andrew Murrison who recently said in a government statement there are no plans ‘to reintroduce service’.
Baker said on Monday:
I don’t like to be pedantic but a government policy would have been developed by ministers on the advice of officials and collectively agreed. I would have had a say on behalf of [Northern Ireland]. But this proposal was developed by a political adviser or advisers and sprung on candidates, some of whom are relevant ministers.
It comes at a time when it is safe to say there is plenty of bad will in the Tory party over the election timing. Several ministers still feel bounced into an early poll – the feeling is Sunak’s decision to see the King before he told the Cabinet decision, showed he had already made up his mind and cared little for their views. As for the party, Tory MPs with majorities around 15,000 feel that they were misled and needed the summer to campaign and build up a team of ground campaigners. A leaked memo – published by the Times – in which CCHQ staff single out some MPs and ministers for not campaigning enough points to the problems with the surprise announcement – and isn’t likely to build party morale.
Just today departing Conservative MP Lucy Allan has announced she is endorsing the Reform party candidate in her constituency of Telford rather than the Tory one. There is a risk, as the campaign starts to kick off, that more MPs and ministers will speak out – particularly if they don’t like the direction the campaign takes. Then the Tory election campaign will be dominated by internal division rather than taking the fight to Labour.
Catch up on the latest Coffee House Shots with Katy Balls, Fraser Nelson and Kate Andrews:
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