Sinn Fein refused any war service on behalf of the British state. But the British Labour movement made clear that it would not accept a last levy of men from London and Manchester, if Dublin and Cork remained exempt. The only way to give even a shred of legitimacy to conscription in Ireland was to move immediately to Home Rule. This, however, would require the South to accept the exemption of Ulster and Ulster to accept that this exemption could only be temporary.
