Half the population say there are no circumstances in which they would go to war for Britain, a poll has found.
While pollster Ipsos found strong backing for increased defence spending, some 48% said they would not take up arms under any circumstances.
The figure is unchanged since April 2025, despite calls for a “national conversation” on defence and rising concern about the threat from countries including Russia, China and Iran.
Just 36% said there were circumstances in which they would fight, virtually the same as the 35% who said the same thing last year.
Hamish Mundell, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said there were questions about “Britain’s willingness to fight and make sacrifices”, but added the Ipsos poll did not suggest the country would be unable to mobilise in the event of a conflict.
He told the Press Association: “I think the most important thing to take away from this polling is that we should be careful about confusing what people say they would do in peacetime with how they might actually behave in a national emergency.”
He said the figures would probably not worry military planners, as the constraint on numbers was not finding enough people willing to fight, but being able to train and equip them.
He added: “I can’t see the number of people willing to fight decreasing if the UK started suffering at the hands of a foreign power during a conflict.”
Men in general were the only group where more people said they would fight than would not, with 48% saying there were circumstances in which they would go to war and 40% saying they would not be willing to do so.
But a majority of women and people aged 35-54 said they would not fight.
Despite individual reluctance to go to war, Ipsos found 51% of people backed an increase in defence spending, almost twice the 28% who supported such a move in June 2022.
But the public remains split on how to pay for such an increase.
Of those who supported higher spending, 37% said it should be paid for with spending cuts elsewhere, while 36% backed increasing the taxes they personally pay.
By far the most popular way of raising money for defence was increasing income tax on those earning more than £125,000 a year, with 46% supporting such a move.
Mr Mundell said the figures were “hardly surprising”, but added it was “disheartening that we don’t seem to have any form of leadership from the Government on a pathway to Britain’s 3.5% Nato commitment”.
Last year, the UK and other Nato allies agreed to spend 3.5% of GDP on “core defence” by 2035 under pressure from Donald Trump to increase military spending.
Mr Mundell told PA: “I am sceptical that we need another national conversation before we can make those decisions.
“We need political leaders to explain the threats facing the country, set out what needs to be done and just go and do it, even where that might prove contentious.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said Labour should cut welfare spending to pay for defence, urging the Chancellor to use the Budget to set out a plan to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.
He said: “In an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world, with threats growing on multiple fronts, we need to get serious about funding defence and make the tough choices needed to protect our national security.
“That means cutting welfare spending and investing billions into improving our defensive capability. Yet Labour continues to prioritise a ballooning welfare bill over our national security.”
The Ipsos poll surveyed 1,090 British adults between September 29 and October 1.
By Chay Quinn
