Which of your children would take up arms if need be to defend their country

Absolutely no way would there be a ' boots on the ground' attack on the UK or England..I mean unless Wales or Scotland started something.

There doesn't need to be , drones and missile strikes would destroy us without a problem, and Russia wouldn't want us for ' land'.

I think your question, as daft as it is, is would you be happy for your child to be conscripted to fight a proxy war for Billionaires in a far flung part of world.

You would be mad to say yes to that.

So you’d hide out in a forest somewhere in Britain, then come out again when the fighting is over?

What if the UK lost, is now occupied by an agressive invader who takes everything and treats the occupied people as slaves?

Might you then perhaps wish you had in some way helped defend your country?

I only have 1 DD, she’s only 14, and has type 1 diabetes.. she’d be of no use in the army due to that…
TBH I’d probably jump on a flight to New Zealand where my sister is

My kids wouldn't fight for anyone right wing and that's a fact.

There is or has been imagery out there showing some of the up close and nasty stuff from Ukraine, often taken from a drone or drone doing over watch, some from individuals are even carrying body cams.

Maybe understandably you are not going to find much of it in the MSM so the general public increasingly tend to think, incorrectly, that absolutely everything is remote.

It's something that started around the time of GW1 with footage of smart weapons being used on bunkers etc, and little to no footage of the likes of the infantry in action.

It's not romantic and for the actual fighting soldier war still has the potential to be up close and personal.

There's nothing romantic about it but if you look at Ukraine, war very much is still a boots on the ground affair.

Ah yeah, Jihadists getting hold of nuclear weapons is a different risk altogether, as they are willing to sacrifice themselves and their families. But they would need to get their hands on them first, so as it stands right now, with only states that have at least some notion of self-preservation, having nuclear weapons, we don't need to worry about them.

This was my reaction exactly

It doesn't need to be one or the other. I know lots of secluded places in forests etc where me and my family could hide out until the conflict was over and we're more than capable of sourcing food. No way would I or my loved ones get involved in a conflict like this!

A dumb reform mug speaks 😂😂

I don't believe in war of any sort, I wish we put as much effort and money into peaceful solutions as we do military capabilities.
I brought my children up not to fight so I assume they wouldn't, but the choice would be theirs.
However, I don't expect 'others' to 'defend' us either, I just feel all wars are pointless, wrong and create so much suffering and destruction, mostly for the innocent victims caught up in it all.
I am a great admirer of countries like Switzerland who count themselves as neutral, and countries such as Greenland and Iceland who do not even have an army (although both have American bases and Greenland has Danish military input....not entirely their choice).

Depends. Are we occupying another country like israel? I would have no hand if the UK was like that barbaric child killing monster.

My point is in response to the OP suggesting of sending your children to war… and someone posting that men claiming asylum in the UK should stay and fight in their own country!

Modern warfare isn’t a human interaction, it’s distant and deadly!

Look at the Isreal Iran conflict happening now, so much death and destruction and not a single soldier in each others country!

People who think that untrained men or children can fight in a modern war is absolutely bonkers!

Mumsnet has really gone full daily mail. There was nothing romantic about the First World War, all war is pointless destruction

The Palestinians are fighting for their country, losing and being called terrorists. They are unarmed against one of the most armies in the world. I don't blame anyone for running away

Hopefully none of mine as I raised them to believe all fighting is wrong and to use their own minds rather than blindly follow orders. However they do all do what they can with protests and one does medical aid at those sorts of events. Hopefully they would all find roles that didn’t go against our beliefs while still supporting behind the scenes.

Both of mine are already serving in combat trades.

What I do object to is my son is going to train Ukrainian soldiers while Ukrainian men who are younger than him are claiming refugee status in our country.

Indeed the idea that modern warfare is a fair fight where you will look your enemy in the eye!

Modern warfare means that you will probably be killed by a drone or ballistic missile controlled by someone far away! There is no fight… just death and destruction from afar!

Romantic!!!!!???

This above.

The chance of the UK being in a war with actual invaders arriving in boats/by plane is incredibly low. Something like a cyberattack or nerve gas attack or even a drone attack is a definite possibility but not one that normal people can defend themselves against.
Either way, I don't want any of my family involved in a destructive and entirely avoidable war because of our war mongering leaders.
I also agree with the points made earlier that many people now have less loyalty to the UK as the social contract has been broken by successive governments over the last several decades. They don't feel that they are fighting for something that they have a part in. It's the same in the US and some other countries.

Nieces and nephews (two older than our eldest two and two younger than them but slightly older than teen) - not a chance either set would!

Mine is in the army, would fight front line… believe me when I say this, it’s a f*ing awful thought that it may (again) happen.

daughter - I think she’d step up, probably want to help bandage any wounded so I’m not sure how much use she’d be other than that

teenage son (not old enough?) - would go in a heartbeat if he thought it would help!

DD1 is probably in a reserved occupation and would be used there.
Dd2 would almost certainly be excused due to disability.
Ds has already told me that if it looks like conscription then he will be signing up so he has control over where/what etc. At least a couple of his friends have said similar. He's 18yo and they have been discussing it between themselves.

The romantic idea that there is hand to hand combat WW1 style with a bayonet is a complete myth!

War is now primarily conducted by drones and remote controlled ballistic warheads fired from afar!

Yes my daughter and I would undoubtedly work to remove an invading force…. probably via sabotage and remote controlled drone attacks!

The idea that you can fight a drone or warhead is the stuff of fantasy…. You can either hide in shelters or leave!

DS1 has already volunteered. He’s served 11yrs so far. He followed in the footsteps of DH who served 35yrs, although he served in the RAF whereas DS1 is army.

DS2 would have signed up too, but he’s asthmatic. He’s a nurse, if they wanted him too, he’d definitely go.