Poll: 80% support national service

FOUR in five French people are in favour of bringing back some form of compulsory national service, a new study claims, following the Paris terror attacks earlier this month.

The Ifop poll for the Journal du Dimanche asked a sample of 1,051 people earlier this week, and found an 81% approval rate among men and 78% among women.

Previous surveys have put the figure around the 60% mark - suggesting a growing appetite for some form of national service, lasting several months, and compulsory for all young people with French nationality or who have been resident in the country for more than a year.

Among the key reasons given in this latest poll were "the need for a more powerful integration tool", "bringing together people from different social backgrounds" and "transmitting French republican values".

Support is strongest among UMP and Front National voters, at 90%, but was also high among Socialist and Front de Gauche supporters (71%).

France ended compulsory military service in 1996.