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  "path": "/news/ww3-fears-majority-britons-major-conflict-erupt-next-decade-poll",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-14T02:27:46.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Donald Trump unleashes ‘most powerful bombing raids in history’ on Iran’s ‘Forbidden Island’",
    "Argentina scales up military amid fears over Britain's sovereignty of Falkland Islands",
    "Donald Trump deploys 5,000 US marines to Middle East as Iran war escalates",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA majority of Britons now believe World War Three is likely to erupt within the next decade, according to fresh polling.\n\nA recent YouGov survey found that 53 per cent of respondents consider global conflict either likely or very likely within the next five to 10 years.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe figure represents a striking 12-point increase compared with the previous year's findings.\n\nThe poll also revealed that public dissatisfaction with the Government’s handling of defence has intensified.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nSome 56 per cent of those questioned said ministers are mishandling Britain’s military, marking an 11-point increase.\n\nThe poll surveyed 2,079 British adults last week.\n\nGeneral Sir Richard Barrons, the former head of Joint Forces Command, said such concerns were understandable given the \"small and broken\" state of Britain's armed forces.\n\nHe said: \"We live in a new world of state confrontation and conflict which is unlike the world we knew a few years ago.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"The world used to be regulated by supranational institutions like the UN and a thing called international law, but now we're seeing big powers shoot up people if they feel like it.\"\n\nSir Richard added: \"People are nervous about war on their doorstep because they have seen what is happening in Ukraine and in the Gulf.\n\n\"The public also recognises that the US has decided not to underpin our security as it has since 1949.\n\n\"We must either make some really hard decisions to fix our defence and national resilience, or really bad things could happen.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Donald Trump unleashes ‘most powerful bombing raids in history’ on Iran’s ‘Forbidden Island’\n  * Argentina scales up military amid fears over Britain's sovereignty of Falkland Islands\n  * Donald Trump deploys 5,000 US marines to Middle East as Iran war escalates\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe survey also revealed a growing crisis of confidence in Britain’s armed forces.\n\nMore than half of respondents - 54 per cent - said they had little or no faith in the military’s ability to defend the country in a wartime scenario.\n\nPolitical allegiance appeared to influence those views, with just 22 per cent of Reform UK supporters expressing confidence in the armed forces, compared with 34 per cent of Conservative voters and 44 per cent of Labour supporters.\n\nMeanwhile, Colonel Philip Ingram MBE, a former intelligence officer with four decades of experience analysing global conflicts, said he could now see \"a clear path to global conflict\" for the first time.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHe said: \"Everything that is happening now is bringing us even closer to the possibility.\n\n\"It is a very real and very genuine concern that I have had for a while now.\n\n\"Our politicians are failing to recognise the threat building on the horizon from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea all working together, swapping technologies and enabling each other,\" the former intelligence officer added.\n\nYouGov head of data journalism Matthew Smith said the findings come amid widely reported cuts to defence spending alongside ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Majority of Britons believe World War III likely to erupt in next decade, poll finds"
}