Niall McCrae – Off-Guardian Feb 24, 2026

Are you Army-fit? Advertisements everywhere, on the internet, on the sides of buses, on the radio and in cinemas, implore people to contact an armed forces recruitment office. And they don’t only want young people. The government intends to extend the age of conscription – should that be needed – to 65. Recent retirees on company or public sector pensions will be expected to don khaki, perhaps joining a reformed brigade at Walmington-on-Sea.

If this sounds ludicrous, and if you believe that the British public would refuse to step into line as cannon fodder, think again. European leaders are drumbeating for war with Russia, while the USA is poking fires on several fronts. In some EU countries, conscription for imminent conflict has already begun.

The nations of Scandinavia, until recently, were idealised as modern, progressive places to live. Their highly educated populace embraced liberal values and eschewed ethnocentric patriotism to open their doors to immigrants, particularly Muslims. They had nothing but token armies, which pursued diversity and equality policies.

Pacifism no more: Sweden and Finland, after decades of neutrality, joined NATO. Their ‘woke’ female leaders seem to relish their new role in sabre-rattling with Vladimir Putin. Their citizens face enlistment for potential war, and that means women too. Two years ago Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced that ‘more robust conscription, including full gender equality, must contribute to solving defence challenges, national mobilisation and manning our armed forces.’ Perhaps he should check his language – ‘manning’ is hardly gender-neutral.

Why Scandinavia to get the ball rolling on Western militarisation? One reason could be that unlike Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Great Britain, the Swedes and their neighbours are not associated with imperialism or fascism (okay, let’s forget the Vikings). Thus they present a positive image for boosting defence and protecting progressive European culture.

A second reason could be that Scandinavia is technologically advanced. Remember that Sweden was allowed to get through covid-19 without lockdown, as epidemiologist Anders Tegnell was lauded for a common-sense approach. But perhaps such licence was because Sweden was already well on its way to the Great Reset. The ‘new normal’ was promoted by young Swedes making purchases or entering offices using microchip hand implants. Digital identity is in widespread use.

Scandinavian conscription will soon be followed across Europe. To calm the horses, however, the British government states that conscription is not necessary at this moment. But the seed has been sown in the public psyche by mainstream media. Recently the Daily Telegraph had billboards with messages about how Putin is likely to invade the Baltic states next, and contesting the idea that being proud of your country is prejudice – subtle primers for jingoistic conscription?

During the contrived moral panic over the television drama ‘Adolescence’ last year, I suggested that the real purpose was propaganda, getting people thinking about young male energy and aggression, and how this could be channelled positively. Numerous letters were sent to newspapers calling for a return to National Service.

Our fathers and grandfathers who did National Service in the 1950s may not be good guides, though. They did their two or three years at a time of post-war peace. They got to see the world and learned useful skills. Now our rulers want war. As in the First World War, the younger generations are at risk of carnage.

The British government appears to be taking a lead role in escalating military tension with Russia. But as with Covid-19 and Net Zero, the big decisions are not really made by Keir Starmer and Westminster. Global forces are taking us on a momentum, and whether Putin is performing for the same masters or fighting his corner on the grand chessboard is difficult to discern.

Retired officers writing to the Telegraph scoff at the prospect of pampered youth making a fighting force – they won’t know which way to point a rifle! But the push for war is not necessarily to defeat Russia and have everyone home for Christmas. Conditions on the Western Front a century ago were so effective for killing millions of men that the underlying message of Richard Attenborough’s O What a Lovely War was a deliberate cull of the population. The First World War erupted at the height of eugenics, and the same ideology prevails today, albeit with a ‘green’ disguise.

Despite technological progress, the war in Ukraine is not dissimilar to that fought in the mud of Flanders. Men are pounded in their trenches by explosive projectiles, and any ventures ‘over the top’ are deadly. Mostly they crouch in their lines of earth, through the bitter winter, spring floods and oppressive summer heat. Perhaps a million, disproportionately Ukrainians, have perished in this war of attrition.

The British public is equivocal on conscription. The majority is asleep to what’s really happening in the world, getting their limited information from social media news feeds or the BBC but ignoring messages that they don’t want to read. Conscription is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. And I predict sooner rather than later. Recruiting sergeants will exploit any lingering patriotism, while indoctrinated ‘woke’ youngsters will be enticed to fight for diversity and equality.

Don’t trust opinion polls. During the Covid-19 regime any proposed deprivation of freedom, polling results showed about 74 per cent in favour. The government, if it wants to introduce conscription, will find the number to support it.

In 1986, in a decade that we can now see as perhaps the optimum of peace and liberty, British rock band Status Quo neared the top of the pop chart with their cover of ‘In the Army Now’. The original version was by South African duo Bolland & Bolland in 1981, and the only change to the lyrics was to remove the specific reference to the war in Vietnam.

A vacation in a foreign land,
Uncle Sam does the best he can
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now

Now you remember what the draft man said,
Nothing to do all day but stay in bed
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now

You’ll be the hero of the neighbourhood,
Nobody knows that you’ve left for good
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now

Smiling faces as you wait to land,
But once you get there no-one gives a damn
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now

Hand grenades flying over your head
Missiles flying over your head,
If you want to survive get out of bed
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now

Shots ring out in the dead of night,
The sergeant calls ‘stand up and fight!’
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now

You’ve got your orders better shoot on sight,
Your finger’s on the trigger but it don’t seem right
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now

Night is falling and you just can’t see,
Is this illusion or reality?
You’re in the army now,
Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army, in the army now

After decades of relative peace and comfort in the West, there is much naivete about the realities of armed service. Often I hear the utterance that people won’t accept conscription because they won’t fight for Starmer or King Charles. Do they not understand that conscripts are not given a choice?

—

Niall McCrae is a social commentator and an officer iof the Workers of England trade union. He was previously a senior lecturer in mental health at King’s College London. His books include The Moon and Madness (2012), Echoes from the Corridors (with Peter Nolan, 2016), Moralitis: a Cultural Virus (with Robert Oulds, 2020) and Green in Tooth and Claw: the Misanthropic Mission of Climate Alarm (2024).  He writes regularly for The Light newspaper.

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