He argued that Britain needed to draw on the experience of nations bordering Russia, adding: “Those countries like Finland, that are literally sharing a border, have a much larger threat than we do.
“And I think we need to recognise that and we need to learn some of the lessons from the way you’ve been managing that threat over all of these years.”
Finland’s conscription programme obliges all males between 18 and 60 to undertake either military or civilian service lasting up to 347 days.
The system has produced a reserve force of nearly 870,000 personnel – among the biggest in the entire Nato alliance, which Finland joined in 2023 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
During the 2024 general election campaign, Labour firmly rejected Rishi Sunak’s proposals to reintroduce National Service for 18-year-olds.
