Rishi Sunak was confronted by a student who asked him why he “hates young people so much”.
Henry Hassell, a 16-year-old singer-songwriter, who lives in west Devon, posed the question on Wednesday while the prime minister was on a campaign visit to a local pub.
A video of the interaction, which was shared by Hassell on TikTok and has since been shared across other social media platforms, has amassed close to 100,000 views. It shows the teenager questioning Sunak on his plan to bring back mandatory national service if the Conservatives are elected, asking: “I was just going to ask: ‘Why do you hate young people so much?’ You’re making us go into the army … I’ve volunteered all my life, why do I have to do it all again when I’m finally coming out of education?”
The prime minister can be heard replying: “No, you’ll have a choice, you’ll have a choice.” He continued: “I wouldn’t view it like that. A culture of service is a good thing for our country, and you’ll have a choice,” with the exchange ending by Henry concluding: “You’re waffling.”
Sunak announced last weekend that if he was re-elected, every 18-year-old would have to spend time in a competitive, full-time military commission or a weekend a month volunteering in “civil resilience”.
The proposals, which have been hailed as a “bold new model of national service” would mean 18-year-olds having to spend one weekend a month volunteering in roles such as special constable, RNLI volunteer, or NHS responder.
This week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned the proposed national service policy would leave UK’s poorest areas worse off and ultimately downgrade efforts to level up the country.
Labour criticised the idea as another uncosted policy from the Tories, who have already raised the prospect of tax cuts they have yet to fund. “This is another desperate, £2.5bn unfunded commitment from a Tory party which already crashed the economy, sending mortgages rocketing, and now they’re spoiling for more,” said a spokesperson.
Labour figures have also privately accused the Tories of of trying to get 18-year-olds fix the problems the government has created, by boosting numbers in the military, helping the NHS and repairing infrastructure.
Hassell said of the policy: “Obviously there’s been a lot of negative reactions to that from people my age, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask Rishi Sunak himself why he was doing it and to be honest, why he hated young people so much.”
Of Sunak’s response, he added: “I thought he was trying to escape the question.”
The prime minister has been approached for comment.
