A new poll has indicated that almost half of Scots think Brexit has “gone badly” and has pushed some towards supporting independence.
The research by Savanta ComRes, commissioned The Scotsman, showed a total of 41 per cent of Scots said they thought Brexit has “gone badly”, while just 16 per cent of Scots believe it has gone well.
Meanwhile, 34 per cent said it had neither gone well nor badly.
The survey, which asked 1,001 Scottish adults aged 16 and over between April 16 and 20, also suggested Brexit was a factor pushing Scots towards supporting Scottish independence.
Results show that a third of voters state that Brexit has made them “more likely” to vote ‘Yes’ in a second independence referendum, while 21 per cent said it would push them to vote ‘No.’
In addition, 38 per cent of those surveyed said leaving the EU had made them “no more or less likely” to vote Yes or No in an independence referendum.
62 per cent of voters in Scotland backed staying in the European Union while 38 per cent opted to leave in the 2016 Brexit vote.
Since then, disruption at the border causing delays in exports may be behind most voters’ belief that Brexit has “gone badly.”
Meanwhile, a total of 41 per cent of voters who did not vote in the 2014 independence referendum said they were now more likely to vote Yes if another referendum was held, with 14 per cent stating Brexit had made them more likely to vote No.
A further 17 per cent said they did not know.
A total of 51 per cent of Scots said they would support the SNP’s proposal for an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU, with 30 per cent stating they would oppose rejoining the EU.
A further 13 per cent said they would neither support nor oppose and eight per cent said they didn’t know.
Chris Hopkins, the associate director at Savanta ComRes, told the Scotsman that it is “little surprise” there is support for an independent Scotland rejoining the EU.
He said: “With Brexit being perceived to have gone badly for Scotland, it is perhaps little surprise that almost half would support an independent Scotland re-joining the EU, while almost as many would support it joining EFTA.
"Brexit has also seemed to have some impact on an increased appetite for independence, with a quarter of 2019 Labour voters saying that Brexit has increased their support for independence, while 16 per cent of 2014 No voters say the same.
"These findings tend to imply that if the perception of Brexit improves then perhaps support for independence will wane, and therefore Scottish Conservatives in particular will be keen to stress its successes, while the SNP should focus on its failings in order to continue to drive a wedge between Scots and Westminster through Brexit.”
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