As global tensions rise, the question of conscription in the UK has resurfaced, with a recent YouGov poll showing 72% support for including women if mandatory military service were reintroduced. Currently, the British Army has just 74,000 regular personnel, its smallest size since the Napoleonic era, following significant cuts since 2010.
Security expert Professor Anthony Glees warned that at least doubling the armed forces would be necessary in a major conflict. Several NATO countries have already reinstated conscription, with Denmark, Sweden, and Norway now including women. Denmark's Colonel Kenneth Strom said the move was based on the current security situation to boost combat power.
Historically, the UK conscripted women during World War II, with single women and widows aged 20-30 without children called up from 1941. By mid-1943, nearly 90% of single women were in essential war work. Conscription ended in 1963, and since 2018, women have been eligible for all military roles, including combat.
Professor Glees warned that a new global conflict could be highly technological and long-lasting, with immediate economic impacts. Disruption to shipping routes like the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a quarter of the world's oil, could push oil above £75 a barrel, fuelling inflation and raising fuel and food prices.
