Tri-Service

General Election 2015: Does Defence Matter?

When the Army marked Her Majesty the Queen's 89th Birthday it was very much a traditional display of military pomp and power – rooted in the past.

But what is the future of these soldiers, and the UK’s Forces… and what do the public want it to be?

The polling company ComRes spoke to more than 2,000 adults for this Forces TV poll, analysing voter perceptions of Defence Spending and the Armed Forces in the lead up to polling day.

Their findings suggest strong public support for protecting defence from further cuts.

72% said it was important to protect the Armed Forces from further cuts.

60% thought it was important to spend the NATO target of 2% of national income on defence

And while 34% agreed that conventional armed forces are less important than 20 years ago… half disagreed.

But another traditional indicator in this poll is that defence isn’t high in voter priorities.

About 1-in-8… 13% put defence and combatting terrorism in their top three issues - behind things like the NHS, Europe, and housing but on a par with unemployment and care for the elderly.

But observers say you have to look back to the early 1980s and the Cold War to see a time when defence was such an election issue.

In part the scale of defence debate in this election is driven by the future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent. And voters are more divided over this than conventional forces.

54% think it’s important to maintain the continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent in its current form.

32% said it’s unimportant, while 15% said they didn’t know.

But Trident exposes a sharp divide in thinking between England and Scotland, where only 35% think renewing it is important.

Overall defence and combatting terrorism also look like lower priorities among Scottish voters. Just one in 14 put it in their top three issues.

However much of a priority they think defence is, voters seem sceptical about politicians getting it right.

Only 30% said they trusted politicians to make the right decisions about the future of our Armed Forces.

Among the parties our poll suggests the Conservatives are most trusted to keep the country safe. 31% put them top… followed by 21% for Labour… and 12% for UKIP.

In Scotland… the SNP are most trusted on 23%

Our poll has mixed messages on the importance voters place on the welfare of the Armed Forces.

Around 4 in 5 thought improving mental healthcare was important and almost two thirds thought the welfare of the Armed Forces and their families would suffer due to budget cuts.

But Armed Forces welfare was a top three issue for just 2% of those asked.

Whoever wins the keys to Downing Street and the MoD has big and important defence decisions to make.

They'll have to decide how much they’ll spend or cut from defence as they balance the books – whether to renew Britain’s nuclear deterrent, and just what they want and are prepared for Britain’s military to do around the world.

#DefenceDebate

The Forces TV Defence Debate will be broadcast Friday 24th April at 1900 on Forces TV - Sky Channel 264, Virgin 277 and Freesat 652. And on BFBS Radio at 1800 - available online, via DAB or download the BFBS Radio App.