‘Severe’ punishment facing Brits who refuse conscription as Russia sends terrifying threat
EXCLUSIVE: A leading historian has warned how the government might punish people who refuse conscription
A leading author and historian has warned that Britons could face a severe punishment if they ignore conscription in the event of World War 3.
Whilst conscription has only been deployed twice by the British government in the past 126 years, first between 1916 and 1920 and then between 1939 and 1960, there are fears it could be reintroduced in the event of another global conflict.
As well as Donald Trump’s administration has been eyeing up both Iran and Greenland and Russia continuing its illegal invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s henchmen have been issuing ominous warnings to Europe.
Russia’s Council for Foreign and Defence Policy Sergey Karaganov warned recently that if Russia suffered defeat they would deploy their nuclear weapons. He told Tucker Carlson: “What is defeat of Russia? If Russia comes ever close to a defeat, that would mean that Russia now would use nuclear weapons and Europe would be finished physically.”
And, with previous claims the British Army is its weakest for decades, the Keir Starmer could potentially turn to conscription to boost numbers.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, author and historian David Swift suggested the punishments that could strike Britons if they don’t answer conscription’s call.
There could be punishments to anyone ignoring conscription (Image: Getty)
Vladimir Putin’s henchmen have delivered chilling threats to Europe in recent months (Image: Getty)
Mr Swift suggested that rather than prison time, fines might be imposed on those who refuse to sign up. He said: “I imagine it would be fines rather than imprisonment or anything like that, due to: 1. Lack of prison capacity. 2. Difficulty enforcing and lack of legitimacy and 3. That ‘conscription’, if introduced, would be very much focused around monetary reward.”
On what sort of fines we might expect to see, Mr Swift suggested that the UK could copy the example of the Greek government. In Greece, there was a fine of €6,000 (£5213.19) for not signing up, but in 2019 the country debated removing the fine altogether. The Express approached the Greek embassy in London for comment on this matter, but they did not respond.
Meanwhile, David suggested Britain could also follow the Swiss example, he explained: “In Switzerland, you have to pay an additional three percent in taxes if you refuse military service for the duration of the time you were meant to be in military training.
“This way, the fines are severe enough so that they present a genuine disincentive not to serve (if it was only a few hundred quid you would have lots of people opting out), but not as severe as imprisonment.”
This isn’t the first time David has commented on conscription; earlier this month he told the Express that whilst one group in particular could be at risk of conscription, others may be exempt.
Thousands of Britons could one day find themselves having to sign up (Image: Getty)
David explained: “Today, since there is such an urgent need to rebuild Britain’s defence industries and industrial capacity, I would expect that people in these important occupations would be exempt.
“Or even that people could be ‘conscripted’ into working in these industries, and that military conscription would target unemployed graduates – this would be very popular with lots of people and especially the Blue Labour thinkers behind Starmer.”
David’s comments came as town hall chiefs were being urged to build up their defences to prevent catastrophic cyber attacks by Russian ‘hacktivists’ in what have been described as ‘denial-of-service’ attacks.
Speaking to the Express, the National Cyber Security Centre’s Director of National Resilience, Jonathan Ellison, warned it was time for the UK’s service providers to bolster their defences or face catastrophe.
There are quetions over Britain’s preparedness for war (Image: Getty)
Jonathan said: “We continue to see Russian-aligned hacktivist groups targeting UK organisations and although denial-of-service attacks may be technically simple, their impact can be significant.
“By overwhelming important websites and online systems, these attacks can prevent people from accessing the essential services they depend on every day.
“All organisations, especially those identified in today’s alert, are urged to act now by reviewing and implementing the NCSC’s freely available guidance to protect against DoS attacks and other cyber threats.”
In response to Russia’s growing aggression, countries like Sweden, Finland, and Norway have instructed their residents on how to survive a conflict based crisis.
Speaking to the Mirror, the University of Buckingham’s Professor Anthony Glees said the UK should now follow suit with it’s own “short, decently written booklet”.
