A new YouGov opinion poll shows that 38% of Britons under 40 say they would refuse to join the armed forces if another world war broke out, and almost a third would oppose mobilization even if their country was threatened with an imminent invasion. .

YouGov says it conducted the poll because it will soon be two years since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s biggest armed conflict since the end of World War II, and because more European military officials have recently warned of the danger of military escalation between Moscow and NATO.

General Patrick Sanders, the chief of staff in London, said last week that the people of the United Kingdom must be ready to take up arms in the war against Putin’s Russia because the current professional army is too small.

Sanders cited the example of Sweden, which has just re-introduced national service as it moves closer to joining NATO. By the way, Sweden is one of the countries where military officials recently warned the population about the danger of war with Russia. Germany is among the countries that have issued similar warnings.

“We are not immune, and we, as the pre-war generation, should prepare in the same way – and this is a nationwide effort. “Ukraine is brutally demonstrating that regular armies start wars, but civilian armies win them,” General Sanders said last Thursday.

After his comments, the Ministry of Defense in London had to intervene, clarifying that it does not plan to recruit.

The British have lost the will to defend their country

The results of a YouGov poll of Britons show that 38% of Britons aged 18 to 40 said they would opt out of registering, and 30% would do so even if Britain was threatened with invasion.

The 18-40 age group is similar to that originally used by the British government for mobilization during the First and Second World Wars.

Just one in 14 respondents (7%) said they would volunteer for the armed forces if another world war broke out, rising slightly to 11% if the UK was threatened with invasion.

Others said that although they would not volunteer, they would not be opposed to incorporation – 21% in the event of a world war and 23% in the specific case of danger to Britain.

In both scenarios, around a third of Britons surveyed said they were either not sure how they would respond or did not think the armed forces would want them because of their physical condition or disability.

Almost three-quarters of Britons agree with the inclusion of women in the armed forces

The percentages for all questions include both sexes, but the refusal rate is higher among women, as the distribution of the data shows.

For example, 43% of women would say no to registration in the event of a world war, and 35% would also refuse to register in the event of an invasion of British territory. Among men – 32% and 25%.

The data is all the more interesting because 72% of Britons agree with the inclusion of women in the event of mobilization.

Of these, 42% believe that women should serve under the same conditions as men, while 30% believe that there should be some restrictions on their assigned roles (such as not serving in the infantry).