People not wanting to sign up for national service would not face criminal sanctions, Work and Pension Secretary Mel Stride said.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “When it comes to the national service, I think this is a great idea. We’re not unique in putting this forward, it’s something that for example, is happening in Sweden, where those young people that go through their version of what we’re suggesting, 80% of them actually come out the other end of say they would recommend doing it to a friend.
“And I think this is a real opportunity for young people to get experience that they wouldn’t otherwise have, to build friendships, to build skills, to build confidence, the kind of building blocks that will set them up give them resilience, to go forward in their lives.”
He added that the armed forces element of the policy would “provide the country with additional resilience in what is a much more uncertain world”.
Mr Stride continued: “There is no question of, for example, as some have said some kind of criminal sanction and people getting arrested and paying fines, and all that.
“We will set up a royal commission that will look into what kind of incentives there should be for people to engage, and also what kind of sanctions might be appropriate for those who decide not to, and also what kind of situations might mean that people would be exempt from that.”