NEW research shows public support for the British Armed Forces is high.
Using data from the 2011 British Social Attitudes survey, the team at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research and the Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research looked at what the public think about the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and the troops who have served on them.
Although the research found that there was little public backing for military action, they were very supportive of the Servicemen and women who had served on them; nine out of ten said they support UK military personnel returning from these campaigns.
In general, public support is high; three-quarters holding a great deal of respect for the military and eight out of ten report holding a high or very high opinion of the Services. Some of the public believe that military Service had negative effects on personnel. Compared to civilians, people thought that current serving personnel were more likely to have mental health problems.
Most of the public expressed their support for the Armed Forces by donations to Service charities. More than six out of ten knew of a charity or organisation for former Service personnel and more than three-quarters had bought a poppy during the 2010 Poppy Appeal.
For more details, go to www.bsa-29.natcen.ac.uk