Sir Alex Younger, who was chief of MI6 from 2014 to 2020, has urged the UK to implement a Swedish-style military conscription. This comes amid growing fears of an all-out war between NATO and Russia as the war in Ukraine drags on.

Sir Alex told the BBC this morning that the UK needs a “wake-up call” over the state of its army. He recommended following the Swedish model, which adopted a selective military conscription system.

The selective conscription in Sweden requires all 18-year-olds to fill out an enlistment form, though only some are called up to carry out training. The military model was reintroduced in 2017 amid rising tensions with Russia. Sweden has since joined NATO alongside Finland.

Sir Alex explained: “Ultimately, in extremis, I think we’d be looking at something like the model I understand exists in places like Sweden, where the government theoretically has the power to compel people to give their service one way or another but doesn’t exercise it except in areas where it’s really needed. You’ll notice on that list is not everyone being called up and going to the drafting station, I think that’s extremely unlikely.”

He clarified that he was against “blanket conscription” but was interested in “ways in which the broader country would participate and contribute to security in a time of an emergency”.

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The former intelligence boss said that British officials should learn from how Eastern Europe has responded to the Russian threat.

Sir Alex added: “I want to live in a world where we don’t have to think about this stuff. But I’m bound to say that we seem to have convinced ourselves somehow that the advantages we have and the values that are shot through our country are kind of natural and don’t need defending.

“And I think we’re in for a rude shock. And by contrast, if we do decide that we want to defend them, the need to do so probably goes down.”

A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson told the BBC there is “absolutely no suggestion of a return to conscription”.

The British government said it was investing £50bn in its armed forces in 2024 to tackle multiple threats, including Russian aggression in Ukraine, and that “increasing recruitment and improving retention across the services is a top priority”.