Rishi Sunak was laughed at for saying national service would be a “great opportunity” for young people as he faced Sir Keir Starmer in during their first televised debate of the 2024 general election on Tuesday, 4 June. The Conservative Party would make it compulsory for 18-year-olds to give up the equivalent of a weekend a month for a year to do voluntary work or sign up for 12 months in the armed forces. When asked by an audience member what he would do to help young people, the prime minister described the proposals as “transformational.” The Labour leader said his party “won’t be sending you to do national service some kind of teenage Dad’s army.”