UK poll shows 18-40 year-olds not interested in joining armed forces

The United Kingdom could face an uphill battle if it tries to grow its army. 

Research firm YouGov has released a new survey asking citizens what they would do if the UK was 'under imminent threat of invasion'. The survey focused on people between the ages of 18 and 40, the standard range for conscripts during World War 2. 

Thirty percent said they would refuse to join the army under any circumstances, while 23 percent said they would join, but only if it was compulsory. Just under 20 percent weren't sure how they would respond to an invasion. Eleven percent said they would not need to be forced to fight - instead, they would volunteer. 

YouGov conducted the survey on 26 January, two days after the UK's army chief called for a so-called citizen force. General Patrick Sanders delivered a speech at a conference on Wednesday, warning that the country would need volunteers if it went to war. 

He pointed to Russia's conflict with Ukraine, saying it wanted to defeat Western values and systems, rather than simply claim territory. Sanders said preparing for a possible conflict was "a whole-of-nation undertaking" and that "Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them."

The UK now has just under 75,000 professional soldiers. Sanders says the army is roughly half the size that it was in the early 1990s, and he's warned that the numbers must go up. "Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough." 

Sanders' statement sparked speculation that the government would call for compulsory service. Social media platform TikTok had registered more than 80 million views of videos with the hashtag 'conscription' less than a week after his speech. 

But the government says conscription is not on the table. The prime minister's office released a statement, saying there was no plan to draft young people. It also said it was not helpful to discuss hypothetical conflicts. 

The YouGov data also suggests there's a gender divide when it comes to views about the role of men and women in conflict. Just over half of British men felt that women should be conscripted on the same basis as men, if a world war erupted. One third of women felt the same way. 

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