Each of us, I suspect, has at least one pretty niche belief. A view so odd that its best chance of ever being revealed may be through the discreet inquiry of a pollster.
A YouGov survey has discovered just such an unusual attitude among our population. A poll of 2,300 British adults found that a mere 6 per cent would volunteer to fight for their country in the event of an ‘imminent’ invasion. An astonishing figure, even in an unpatriotic age. (A further 14 per cent said they would fight if called up, 17 per cent would refuse any order to do so, and 52 per cent declared themselves ineligible on physical grounds.)
How can we put that very modest number into context? Let me throw out a few examples. What is the proportion of 2024 Lib Dem voters who think we should be able to eat dogs? It’s 6 per cent, again according to YouGov’s figures. (Tory and Reform voters voiced similarly muted levels of enthusiasm, while Labour voters were almost twice as likely to support the idea.)
Six per cent also happens to be the proportion who told the same pollster that they thought 2025 had been a fairly or a very good year for Britain. And, among Americans in 2021, it was the number who said they could defeat a grizzly bear in unarmed, man-on-beast combat.
