Cameron gathers support over national service for teenagers

Mr Cameron announced yesterday that 11 charities and voluntary bodies, ranging from Prince Charles's charity, the Prince's Trust, to the National Union of Teachers, had come together to help him work out details of a programme to "prepare teenagers for the responsibilities of adult life". Lord Guthrie, the former chief of the defence staff, has also joined the team.

The first question Mr Cameron wants his advisers to answer is how parents would react if the scheme were compulsory. It would be the first project of its kind since National Service was abolished nearly half a century ago. If it is not compulsory, he wants some other way of making sure that it is operating in every part of the country.

Mr Cameron, who has been criticised for his own privileged upbringing, which included education at Eton and Oxford University, believes teenagers should be made to mix with their peers from different backgrounds.

"I am always struck when asking anyone of my father's generation who did National Service by the fact that they tend to reply in a similar way - 'it was something we all did together - irrespective of who we were, where we lived, where we came from, or what god we worshipped'," he said yesterday. "Why not challenge organisations from the armed forces to community groups to develop ideas for a school-leaver programme, lasting a few months? Something that prepares teenagers for their responsibilities as adult citizens, that enables them to meet people from different backgrounds, and to learn about the realities of life in different communities."

His comments were made at a Westminster conference called by the Political Studies Association on what it means to be British, during a crowded day for the Tory front-runner. Mr Cameron's schedule included an interview on the Today programme, a mid-morning speech to the employers' organisation, the CBI, a lunchtime meeting with Tory activists, a lecture on "Britishness" in the afternoon, and a speech in the evening at a dinner in honour of the outgoing Tory leader, Michael Howard.

With the close of voting now less than a week away, internet polls suggest that he is safely on course to win against his older rival, David Davis, who entered the contest as the front-runner two months ago. The deadline for voting is midday next Monday, but since it is a postal ballot, there are unlikely to be any votes cast after this Thursday.

Appearing on the Today programme with Mr Cameron, Mr Davis denied that the contest was all over, hinting that he believed he could still win. "You may be surprised," he said.

The two rivals also appeared together at the CBI conference, prompting Mr Davis to joke: "He and I have been spending so much time together that rumours of a civil partnership are doing the rounds."

Mr Cameron told the conference: "We need to campaign for capitalism, to promote profit, to fight for free trade. For far too many people profit and free trade are dirty words."