Another day and another wait to see what, if anything, will happen in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin still has thousands of soldiers on the Russian border, there’s accusation of cyber-attacks on Kiev’s banks and defence ministry while Moscow media has been ridiculing the West over yesterday’s ‘day of no invasion.’ So, as Westminster works itself into a frenzy, Mr S thought it worth asking what the great British public makes of all this.

It isn’t clear yet how the stand-off will end, but for a plurality of Brits the answer is clear: war. Some 41 per cent think a Russian invasion in the next month is ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’; only half of that – 21 per cent – think such an event ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely.’ The UK’s role in this crisis has, for better or worse, been negligible in the minds of most voters: 50 per cent said the government’s actions had made an invasion ‘neither more nor less likely’ with only 15 per cent believing the actions of Ben Wallace et al made it ‘less likely’ and 14 per cent arguing the opposite.

A plurality of Brits (40 per cent) would oppose and 24 per cent would support UK and allied troops being deployed to Ukraine if Russia were to invade, according to a poll of 1,500 adults conducted yesterday by Redfield and Wilton. But while military action is clearly divisive, other options are much more popular.  An overall majority – 57 per cent – would support Britain and its allies imposing strict sanctions against Russia, compared to just 12 per cent opposed.

In the event of a Moscow invasion, voters also support sending weapons and supplies to Ukraine in this scenario by 39 per cent to 26 per cent, leaving aside undecideds and those who don’t know. Indeed 41 per cent said they would oppose the UK and its allies ‘not doing anything at all besides words of protest’, something which attracted the support of less than one in five voters (17 per cent).

On the consequences of a Russian invasion, most Brits seem fairly bullish: strict sanctions by the UK, EU and US on Moscow would either be ‘significantly’ or ‘fairly damaging,’ according to 57 per cent of the public. Yet despite this pain, only 15 per cent of the public think sanctions would actually lead to Russia retreating from Ukraine, with 43 per cent saying such a scenario would be ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely.’

Voters reckon that sanctions would instead be followed by Russian retaliation, with two in three voters expecting cyber-attacks and 68 per cent anticipating gas exports being cut off. More than three-quarters of the public think this would cause the UK and its economy a significant or fair amount of damage.

And while all this kicks off in Europe, some voters are worried about taking the eye off the ball elsewhere: nearly one in three voters (32 per cent) think ‘there has been too much focus on Russia, while China poses a greater threat to the UK and its allies.’ A plurality (38 per cent) neither agree nor disagree, with just 12 per cent disagreeing that the focus on Ukraine has been disproportionate.

Something for ministers to reflect on perhaps, as they wait to see how all this pans out.