Young people who decline to perform national duty may lose their right to drive and be ineligible for school loans, according to suggestions made by Rishi Sunak.

In order to guarantee adherence to a new plan put forth by the Conservatives, the prime minister stated that "a set of sanctions and incentives" would be required.

When asked how the UK could enforce the punitive measures that other European countries utilize, he advised doing so.

Plans for a new national service program are part of the Conservative agenda.

Every 18-year-old would be required to serve in the military for a year or volunteer for the equivalent of one weekend per month under the proposed plans.

Mr Sunak was pressed on how he would enforce the scheme, which the Conservatives say would be compulsory, during a leaders’ special of Question Time.

He said: “You’ll have a set of sanctions and incentives and we will look at the models that are existing around Europe to get the appropriate mix of those.”

Asked what that meant, he added: “There’s all sorts of things that people do across Europe, whether that’s looking at driving licences, other access to finance.”

It is understood the Prime Minister was referring to schemes which mean people who refuse to do national service can face sanctions related to driving licences or student loans.

Ten European states have national service - Austria, Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Mr Sunak said that a Royal Commission would be set up to examine the best options on incentives and sanctions and report back to Government.

A Tory source said such a commision would look at best practice from other comparable counties and decide on appropriate measures for the UK.

He said other countries have sanctions on student finance and driving licences, and that Mr Sunak was not saying those are good for the UK.

The Prime Minister was one of four main party leaders taking part in a BBC Question Time programme on Thursday night.

Election date gambling row

During a grilling from audience members Mr Sunak was also confronted about the row over alleged betting on the election date engulfing his party.

It emerged this week that a second Conservative candidate and the party’s campaigns director were being looked into by the Gambling Commission.

The watchdog is examining bets allegedly placed by Laura Saunders, the Tory candidate in Bristol North West, and her husband, Tony Lee, who is now on leave of absence from his job at party headquarters.

Last week the Prime Minister’s parliamentary private secretary, Tory candidate Craig Williams, apologised for placing a £100 bet that the election would be in July.

Mr Sunak said that he was “incredibly angry to learn of these allegations” but refused to say that the two candidates involved should be barred by the party.

He said: “All I can say is they are serious investigations. It’s right that they are done thoroughly, confidentially, the integrity of that process should be respected.

“But what I can tell you is that if anyone is found to have broken the rules not only should they face the full consequences of the law but I will make sure that they are booted out of the Conservative Party.”

Mr Sunak was pressed by one audience member over his plans to reduce record levels of migration, which includes a clampdown on dependents’ visas.

He said that migrants made a big contribution to the UK but that “levels of migration that we have seen are too high and they need to come down”.

“What we have done is say that people are going to bring family members here, they just need to be able to support them.

“I think that’s reasonable because anyone who comes to this country obviously adds to the pressure on public services. That is a very common sense measure.”

Mr Sunak was then grilled on whether social care staff who come to Britain from overseas should be paid more so they were able to support their families.

He replied: “We have a dedicated visa for social care because we know how important it is and we need to make sure that we do get the right workers.”

Mr Sunak’s appearance came at the end of a bruising week for the Tories with several polls predicting that the party was on course for an electoral wipeout.

A Savanta MRP poll for The Telegraph found the party would be down to little more than 50 seats, with more than 20 Cabinet ministers losing their seats.

In that scenario even Mr Sunak would be kicked out of office, becoming the first ever sitting prime minister to lose their seat in an election.

Mr Sunak told the BBC Question Time audience he believed he had chosen the right moment to call the General Election.

“It was the right moment to call the election, for the reasons that I have outlined.”

Asked if he was glad to have called the election, he added: “I am.”