When war is in the air, young men traditionally sign up – and they traditionally sign up, disproportionately, from the north-east of England, where I grew up. The country must be prepared for war, says Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, head of our armed forces. But what use is all this puffed-up talk of a battle-ready Britain if we have no soldiers? In the north-east, the supply of soldiers has slowed not just to a trickle but to a drip.

Sunderland, for instance, home to nearly11,000 veterans, sent just ten men into the army last year. A reporter called Fred Scul-thorp went to Sunderland for Dispatch magazine last month, to work out what had happened to the north-east’s fighting spirit, but all Fred found was apathy: why sign up when you can sign on? No loss to the army anyway, said the secretary of the Sunderland Gunners club. The lads these days couldn’t fight a cold.

What is Serco going to say when potential recruits ask why soldiers are being tried simply for following orders?

What is Serco going to say when potential recruits ask why soldiers are being tried simply for following orders?

The stats paint an even bleaker picture just on their own. Of the north-east’s young men of prime enlisting age, 16 to 24, about one in five are considered not just unemployed but ‘inactive’. They’re Neets – not in education, employment or training, and there’s more and more of them every year. I keep looking at the numbers and blinking in disbelief. What in the world are they all doing? More than half the Neets........

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