TWICE as many British voters are more concerned about keeping Scotland within the UK than those fearing Brexit, a new poll has found.
The BMG poll for The Herald found 68 per cent of UK voters cited Scottish independence as their “least preferred option” when compared with Britain splitting from the EU, which recorded 32 per cent support.
The figures indicate that UK voters are overwhelmingly more anxious about Scotland remaining within the 300-year-old Union than a Brexit.
And they suggest fears over the possible break-up of the Union could help keep the UK in the European Union.
The findings of the poll – which canvassed 1,512 voters UK-wide between April 21 and 26 – came as Nicola Sturgeon faced more questions about the circumstances in which she would seek a second independence referendum.
But the leaders of the three main pro-Union parties have called on her to respect the outcome of the vote on September 18, 2014.
Read more: David Torrance: Scottish nationalists and Brexiteers have much in common. Both are utterly vacuous
The SNP leader has said that another vote could be triggered if Scotland is taken out of the EU against the will of Scots. Polls suggest while most Scots back remaining in the EU, the picture in England, where 85 per cent of the UK population lives, is more mixed.
Reacting to The Herald poll, a spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said voters “right across the UK were concerned about the prospect of Scotland being independent”.
Read more: UKIP Scotland leader hits out at SNP's "nonsense" support for the European Union
“That was shown in a number of rallies, and a recognition that the UK needed Scotland as much as Scotland needed the UK,” he said.
A breakdown of the poll results showed pro-European Brits were strongly against Scottish independence with 72 per cent opposed to secession.
But when asked to choose, 56 per cent of Europhiles said that their “least preferred” option was Brexit.
Among undecided EU voters most, 71 per cent, were against Scottish independence and a similar proportion, 73 per cent, thought independence would be a worse outcome than Brexit.
The poll also found that younger people were less likely to be concerned by Scottish independence than Brexit than older people.
Experts said the findings suggested young people’s values had moved more towards the continent than those of their parents or grandparents.
A Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesman said the SNP would “do well to remember” that debate over the EU referendum “is not a proxy one for Scottish independence”.
“Liberal Democrats stand for Scotland remaining part of the UK and the UK remaining part of the EU,” he added.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said the “best future” for Scottish jobs was to remain in the UK and EU.
“Scottish Labour is fully committed to the UK remaining in the European Union,” he said.
The SNP reiterated their stance that only by democratic will can Scotland hold a second referendum.
A spokesman said: “As we have made clear, the prospect of Scotland being dragged out of Europe against our will would almost certainly spark strong demands for a second referendum.”
On the campaign trail yesterday, Labour leader Kezia Dugdale accused the SNP and the Conservatives of being “utterly obsessed with re-running the constitutional arguments of the past”.
It followed Nicola Sturgeon’s comments at the weekend where the first minister admitted she expected to lead Scotland to independence.
She said opinion polls could trigger another independence referendum but said there would have to be “clear and sustained evidence... over a period of time, that independence had become the preferred option of the majority”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel