Only 45% of young Britons support UK role in Ukraine, poll suggests

Less than half of young people support Britain’s current role in the Ukraine conflict, according to a survey carried out for The Times.

The Ipsos online poll of 1,095 people found there was strong backing for the UK’s contribution overall, but opinion was softer among the younger generation. Of those aged 16 to 34, 45 per cent either strongly supported or tended to support Britain’s role in the war.

Some 15 per cent were either strongly opposed or tended to oppose and the remaining 32 per cent neither opposed or supported it.

The research found that the older the respondent was, the more likely they were to be supportive, with a total of 63 per cent of 35 to 54-year-olds in support of the UK’s contribution. Those aged 55-75 were the most supportive, with 80 per cent in favour of Britain’s role, and only 10 per cent against.

Gideon Skinner, head of politics research in public affairs at Ipsos, suggested the reason for the lower levels of approval among younger people was because they gave lower priority to defence.

He said: “Support is particularly high among older people and Conservative supporters, but most Labour voters also support Britain’s current role too.

“Opposition is low among all groups, although young people are more likely to be neutral. This is not completely unusual and partly reflects the higher priority given to defence by older people.”

Tory voters were slightly more supportive of the UK’s role than Labour voters, with 75 per cent of those who backed the Tories in 2019 supporting the UK’s role and 62 per cent of Labour voters.

Britain has taken a crucial role in the war in Ukraine and was the first European country to send its armed forces lethal weapons to use against the Russians. So far, at least £2.3 billion in military assistance has been committed to the country. Thousands of anti-tank weapons, vehicles, rockets and helmets have been sent, along with financial assistance. Liz Truss, the prime minister, and Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, have made clear that support will long continue.

There was strong approval among voters in the poll for the UK arming Ukraine in the war, with about three in five supportive of Britain sending weapons and money to help Ukraine in their fight against Russia.

There was slightly less support for sending money than weapons: 63 per cent of pollsters supported weapons, compared with 59 per cent supporting sending money.

Truss has committed to increasing Britain’s defence budget to 3 per cent of national income by the end of the decade, which recent reports have said will cost an extra £157 billion over the next eight years.

Skinner added that as debate continues in Westminster about the right level of defence spending, Britons are divided over whether more really should be spent on the armed forces, with defence coming below several other public services in people’s priorities.

The poll, carried out this month, found that a third of Britons thought government spending on defence and the armed forces should stay about the same.

There was also a more favourable opinion of the armed forces than the police, schools, trade unions and banks, but less support when compared to the NHS and the fire brigade.