A YOUNG Tory accused the party of trying to set generations against each other with its controversial election campaign call to bring back national service.

Speaking in a conference panel about overcoming the party’s chronic voting deficit among younger people, Tyneside councillor Olly Scargill said: “In the general election some of what we campaigned upon was wedge issues.

“Things like national service were probably designed to play off younger people and older people, and when you’ve got a rising age of Conservative voter, it is incredibly unsustainable.”

Mr Scargill suggested that the party would do better to focus on housebuilding, one of the greatest anxieties among young people.

The conference session suggested the party has a long way to go — it was sparsely attended, largely by the elderly. 

The only other young person to speak was Holly Moscrop from Scotland, who said she was a Tory because she read the Telegraph newspaper.