THE Labour government has announced that it will launch an armed forces “gap year” for under-25s. It will initially be open to 150 recruits, expanding to 1,000 in the future, with a starting salary of around £26,000.

It will include training in the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force for those looking for a career in the military.

Presented as an opportunity to young people, this scheme in reality is to manufacture consent for warfare and militarism among youth as more personnel leave the military rather than join it these days.

The Labour government is scrambling to implement its war-hungry plans to promote the ruling capitalist class’s interests and enact its imperialist geopolitical strategy around the globe.

The scheme was inspired by a successful scheme launched in Australia that the Labour government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) praised as an “exciting model from which to learn.”

This is part of the government’s plans to increase military recruitment, particularly among young people, using “new and … innovative ways of entry.” Traditional adverts on buses and promotion clips on social media to join the British army have increased recently, coinciding with these plans.

Many of these adverts falsely paint the military as a solution to young people’s alienation in a highly atomised and exploitative society thanks to successive governments’ neoliberal agenda.

Defence Secretary John Healey MP explained: “This is a new era for defence, and that means opening up new opportunities for young people to experience and learn from our armed forces.

“This gap-year scheme will give Britain’s young people a taste of the incredible skills and training on offer across the army, Royal Navy and RAF.

“It’s part of our determination to reconnect society with our forces, and drive a whole of society approach to our nation’s defence.

“As families come together at this time of year, and young people think about their futures, I want the outstanding opportunities on offer in our armed forces to be part of that conversation in homes across the UK.”

Far from offering “outstanding opportunities,” this scheme highlights the ruling capitalist class’s drive to war and militarism, amid the festive period when the working class is calling for peace.

Militarisation skews national priorities, fuels global insecurity and the drive to hot and cold war, and undermines international law.

Additionally, it poisons the environment and redirects funding and investment away from public services and social infrastructure.

Combating the ruling capitalist class’s offensive, young communists have promoted and will continue to mainstream Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s Alternative Defence Review (ADR) to raise the political consciousness of youth in Britain.

The ADR correctly identifies that funding for militarism and drive to war diverts funding and investment away from socially useful and public services, prioritising imperialist interests and the war machine over rejuvenating deprived working-class communities and the public services they need across Britain. Starmer himself said when launching the SDR that “defence had to be prioritised above other public services.”

Furthermore, increased military expenditure prevents a more sustainable and just economy while overall not creating more jobs, in fact likely leading to a net loss of jobs due to diverting investment away from jobs-rich sectors like healthcare.

This military gap year scheme is cited as tackling youth unemployment which has reached a staggering 15.3 per cent, meaning 702,000 young people are not in education, employment or training, up 60,000 from last year.

Youth unemployment is intrinsically linked to cuts to public services, which are in crisis. Genuine job opportunities for youth are lacking, which might make this scheme tempting for some young people, and highlights the lack of genuine investment in youth and public services from successive governments. Young people demand jobs not bombs.

Young communists oppose this gap-year scheme, which promotes careers in the military to young people instead of genuinely investing in youth and public services to tackle unemployment. Young people should be part of building strong and organised labour, peace and progressive movements to demand peace, fully funded public services, and the implementation of the ADR in their workplaces, campuses and communities.

Vast military expenditure increases must end in favour of the demilitarised strategy on conflict, which promotes human security, co-operation and diplomacy, outlined by the ADR. Public services should be fully and adequately funded by an end to militarism and drive to war alongside other measures.

The Communist Party and its youth wing the Young Communist League offer youth an alternative to militarism and drive to war, through Britain’s Road to Socialism. Let us build the united front against war and austerity for peace, jobs and socialism in our lifetime.

Georgina Andrews is general secretary of the Young Communist League.