As world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump, work on securing a peace deal in Ukraine, one British man has sparked controversy by declaring he would refuse to fight for Britain under Starmer’s leadership. Charlie Downes, a self-proclaimed patriot, told GB News that while he loves his country, he would not be willing to go to war for it in its current state.
Speaking to host Martin Daubney, the 23-year-old passionately described his deep connection to Britain, recalling moments standing atop the Kent Downs, looking out over the land his ancestors cultivated. “I know in my heart that I would fight and die for this country, right?” he said. “But that’s not what this is about. I’m not prepared to go to war, to be sent abroad by this utterly corrupt, morally bankrupt political class that has sold out this country.”
He argued that Britain’s leaders have prioritized mass migration, net zero policies, and deindustrialization over the needs of its people, making him unwilling to serve under them. Hitting out at what he called the “outrageous proposition” of British troops being sent to Ukraine, Downes claimed that young British men were being asked to “die at the altar” of a “military-industrial complex based in America.”
“When the prospect of conscription is raised, the idea of being sent to Ukraine or to Gaza or to wherever else, the idea of dying for what amounts to British and American foreign policy interests is just outrageous to me,” he added.
Downes pointed out that he wasn’t alone in his views, citing a survey that found 41% of under-30s would refuse to take up arms under any circumstances to defend Britain. He argued that this sentiment was a direct result of the country losing its identity.
“As much as it’s demoralizing and depressing to hear this news, I can’t blame them. What are we defending? What does it mean to be British in the 21st century?”
Slamming both the Conservative and Labour parties, he said their definition of British values—democracy, tolerance, the rule of law, and individual liberty—wasn’t a “meaningful identity.” He blamed decades of mass migration for what he sees as an unrecognizable Britain.
“This doomed project of mass migration that we’ve been subject to over the last 30 years has transformed this country to be unrecognizable,” he said. Downes, who has lived in England his entire life, said he felt betrayed by successive governments, from Tony Blair to Rishi Sunak, for pushing policies that he claims the British public never wanted.
“They’ve betrayed the people of this country who never asked for any of this to be inflicted on them,” he said, citing mass migration, deindustrialization, and net zero policies as examples.
He ended on an emotional note, saying: “People are really seriously struggling out there, and it makes me want to cry. It makes me so angry the way that this country is being run into the ground, and Starmer is just the latest in a long line of people who have acted against the interests of this country at every turn.”
His comments have ignited a fierce debate about national identity, patriotism, and whether young people feel a sense of duty to defend Britain in the modern era.
