Tory MP Rory Stewart's proposal for a 'National Citizen Service' has caused a huge debate online

Now that Theresa May is no longer the Tory leader, those hoping to take over from her are declaring what they vow to do if they become prime minister.

One candidate who has certainly made a lot of waves in recent weeks is Rory Stewart, the MP for Penrith and The Border who is something of a hit on social media due to his unusual campaign.

In one of his latest videos, the 46-year-old has vowed in introduce something called 'National Citizen Service' which isn't the military-like service that was popular in the first half of the 20th century, but more of a community building model where young people from different backgrounds and different parts of the country would come together for two weeks to learn more about each other, develop skills and confidence and take those back into their everyday lives.

I am committing that on the day that I take over as prime minister I will launch national citizen service. Not a military service. But a national service for every young person at 16, where they will go, spend two weeks with people from different backgrounds, often in an outdoor, education setting - to learn skill, develop confidence and then two weeks giving back to a community project. 

I felt it myself as a young man, joining the army in a military setting, how much confidence it gave me and how much it set me up for life. But in modern Britain, it doesn’t need to be in a military setting.

While it could be argued that Stewart's proposal makes sense in 2019, when the UK and the rest of the world in general, seems more divided than ever, his idea hasn't been universally welcomed on Twitter, as many people feel that forcing young people to do something is fundamentally unfair.

Others felt that the Tories should by trying to fix the magnitude of problems that currently exist in the UK rather than introducing something completely new.

Others highlighted that this sort of thing has never worked before and there is no reason to suggest that things would be any different this time.

HT The National

More: Rory Stewart admits to filming fake selfie as Tory leadership campaign gets even weirder