Nearly half of British respondents would refuse to fight for country, poll says

Results of an Ipsos poll on British national defense released Tuesday show that 48% of the Britons surveyed wouldn’t take up arms for their country under any circumstances. The poll came out two days before the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. Of the 1,090 people polled online, those of ages 35-54 were the least likely age group to fight for their country, with 54% against it. The poll also found that 57% of women would not fight for their country for any reason. Results were fairly even across voters from different parties.

Just over half of the respondents were confident Britain’s armed forces could adequately defend the country from attack, down considerably from 2022.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was expected to announce increased defense spending on Thursday. In February, Starmer said he would raise defence spending to 2.5% of his country’s GDP, the highest since the Cold War, according to Reuters.

What else did the survey find? Respondents to the survey were more likely to want a defense relationship with the European Union or NATO than with America. They also said Britain’s defense spending should focus on intelligence and cybersecurity, and 43% wanted increased spending.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Britain’s newly announced trade deal with the United States.