An economic draft? Drive to get young Neets in the military divides opinion

Key points

• Young people looking for employment should “really seriously take a look at the armed forces”, according to the veterans minister, Louise Sandher-Jones, and with more than 1 million 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (Neets), everyone that age is aware of how bleak the job market is at present.
• But not all agree about whether the military is the answer.
• Alexandra Williams is from rural Lincolnshire and studied law at a university in Manchester.
• She went in with the intention of becoming a lawyer, but early on was led to believe that would be impossible.
• “One of my lecturers was like: you’ve got no contacts, you’re not going to get anywhere,” she says.