Pollster Find Out Now and election experts Electoral Calculus have run a poll on public attitudes to the Ukraine crisis. This poll of 2,013 respondents was carried out online on 7 March 2022.
The headline findings are
Read commentary on the poll to put it in the global context.
In this question we asked people if they wanted to go further than current western policy and apply sanctions to the purchase of Russian oil and gas.
| Agree strongly | 49% |
| Agree | 27% |
| Neither agree not disagree | 6% |
| Disagree | 2% |
| Disagree strongly | 1% |
| Don't know | 9% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% |
| Net agree | 73% |
A strong majority of the public is in favour of energy sanctions on Russia.
Next we asked people if they wanted to go further than current NATO policy and fight an air war with the Russian air force.
| Agree strongly | 20% |
| Agree | 20% |
| Neither agree not disagree | 13% |
| Disagree | 14% |
| Disagree strongly | 10% |
| Don't know | 18% |
| Prefer not to say | 6% |
| Net agree | 16% |
In this case 40% of people think NATO should enforce a no-fly zone, and 24% of people disagree. A further 32% of people didn't give a clear opinion.
Of those who gave an opinion, 52% agreed with a no-fly zone, 31% disagreed, and 17% were undecided.
Next we asked people if they supported sending troops to fight the Russian army.
| Agree strongly | 11% |
| Agree | 14% |
| Neither agree not disagree | 18% |
| Disagree | 21% |
| Disagree strongly | 14% |
| Don't know | 16% |
| Prefer not to say | 6% |
| Net agree | -10% |
There are 35% of people opposed to sending NATO troops, with 25% in favour. There are 40% of people who didn't give a clear opinion.
We also asked people if Britain should intervene militarily in general terms.
| Agree strongly | 8% |
| Agree | 13% |
| Neither agree not disagree | 17% |
| Disagree | 23% |
| Disagree strongly | 18% |
| Don't know | 16% |
| Prefer not to say | 6% |
| Net agree | -20% |
There are 34% of people opposed to British military intervention, and 21% in favour. There are 39% of people who didn't give a clear opinion. These responses were fairly similar to those of question 3, but more guarded than those of question 2.
Finally, we asked if more Ukrainian refugees should be admitted to Britain.
| Agree strongly | 32% |
| Agree | 31% |
| Neither agree not disagree | 12% |
| Disagree | 8% |
| Disagree strongly | 3% |
| Don't know | 8% |
| Prefer not to say | 6% |
| Net agree | 52% |
A very clear majority of the public is in favour of this. There are 63% of people agreeing, and only 11% of people disagreeing. There are 26% of people who didn't give a clear opinion.
Chris Holbrook, CEO of Find Out Now: "It's clear that the British public is strongly in favour of offering support to Ukraine, but the majority want to keep this at arm's length. A measure of the strength of feeling is the majority view that visas should be waived for Ukrainian refugees."
Martin Baxter, CEO of Electoral Calculus: "The British public want western leaders to do more on the Ukraine crisis. The public are even supportive of having a NATO no-fly zone, despite the opposition of both the US and UK governments. It's been a while since the British public was more interventionist than the American government, so this is quite remarkable."
Find Out Now polled 2,103 GB adults online on 7 March 2022. The sample was weighted to be representative by gender, age, social grade, other demographics and past voting patterns. Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus are both members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.
Full data tables are here.