By Tim Saunders on
British actor Sir Michael Caine is calling on the U.K.’s leaders to reinstate national service in an effort to reduce street violence and drug-taking amongst young people.
Caine’s eyes were opened to the problems facing youth in some areas while filming his newest movie, Harry Brown.
“I’m very stodgy but I’m turning into a real conservative,” he said. "What you actually need to do is bring back national service; not for two years like I did – where I went to the Korean War, but have six months to learn to defend your country.
“You don’t kill anybody; you just learn to defend your country in case somebody comes to kill you. I think it’s very important that these kids get the sense of being citizens and the pride that can come with that.”
“When I read the script I had a middle class reaction, which is to get all these bastards and stick them into prison. I shot a lot at night there with all the guys known as hoodies and I would talk to them and I changed my mind about them.
“I realized that 75 per cent of them are educateable (sic).”
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