Cameron: Britain's young need a new 'national service'

The Conservative leader wants to see every young person join a six-week volunteer programme on leaving school. He said the scheme was at the heart of his determination to mend Britain's broken society.

"I am very worried about it. I have three small children and I worry about the country they are going to grow up in," he said.

Under his proposals, teenagers would have the same chance to mix with other groups and build links with communities that national service offered the young 50 years ago, he said.

Mr Cameron also hit out at Michael Ancram, the former deputy leader who accused the Tory leader of "trashing" the legacy of Margaret Thatcher.

Buoyed by a poll showing the Conservatives narrowing the gap on Labour, Mr Cameron said his critics were "blasts from the past".

"When you make changes you'll get blasts from the past who signify absolutely nothing. They are wrong," he said. " Political leadership is about taking a long-term approach, it's about ignoring noises off stage."

Speaking alongside Olympic boxer Amir Khan, Mr Cameron dismissed those who said his scheme - dubbed the national citizen service - could not be implemented.

"I know people will say there are all sorts of problems - health and safety, how will you pay for it, kids won't want to do it, how will you get organisations to help deliver it.

"My answer is simple. We can't afford not to do this.

"Think about the difference it could make to our country. Think about all the amazing and varied opportunities it could provide someone: a week's training on Dartmoor with the Army, helping social services in one of the poorest parts of the country, travelling halfway across the world to help build an orphanage," he was expected to say.

All school leavers would attend a six-week summer programme which would begin and end with a week-long residential course and include four weeks of work and volunteering.

They would take part in community service and "tough" physical activities. Conservative sources said it would be compulsory and would allow young people to "mix with people from different backgrounds, learn self respect and explore their responsibilities as adult citizens".

Young people would take part in the programme on leaving school at 16 or between taking GCSEs and continuing school. The programme would end with a special ceremony acknowledging their achievements.

The Tory leader said: "I don't want to bring back national service. But I do want to bring forward a 21st-century equivalent."