The Know Daily - Tuesday 28 May 2024

_{Read in 5m 36s ∙ Listening to Ruth B. ∙}

A plant that went extinct in the wild in Great Britain has recently been reintroduced - but its location is being kept under wraps for now. The rosy saxifrage was last seen in Eryri (or Snowdonia) over 60 years ago, and a horticulturist working on the project said he hoped the day would come when “everyone who visits [the plant] will be able to appreciate it” 👏

🇬🇧 National service explained

Election campaigning is well underway, with the Conservatives pledging to introduce national service if they win on 4 July. 

What would it involve, exactly? 
The details have “not yet been hammered out”, noted Sky News. What we do know is that 18-year-olds would be required to either spend a year full-time in the armed forces, or spend one weekend a month volunteering, for example in the police or the NHS. The PM has said that those who undertake the military part of the scheme would receive a “stipend” to help with living expenses, but gave no further details. 

How would the scheme be enforced?
That’s TBC. The Conservatives have confirmed that “some form of sanction” would apply to those who refuse to get involved, but again gave no further details. Ministers have said the plan would cost £2.5bn a year and be funded by cash previously used for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion.

What’s the logic behind it?
Speaking to the BBC, Home Secretary James Cleverly said the main point of the plan was to make sure “people mix with people outside their bubble” for “community cohesion”. But political commentators are more cynical, viewing the PM’s pledge as an attempt to win back support from the right-wing Reform UK party. 

Writing in the New Statesman, Andrew Marr said the plan “will be welcomed by many core conservative voters”, adding that it “finally got a Tory idea onto the front pages” after a shaky start to the campaign for Sunak.

What’s the reaction been?
Critics from across the political divide have dismissed the plan as “unserious”, said Sky News. Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall described it as a “headline-grabbing gimmick” and an “unfunded commitment”, with leading military figures also sceptical over how it would work. 

And unsurprisingly, the prospect of bringing back mandatory national service got quite the response on social media - and led to a whole host of memes.