Scots ‘now the unhappiest people in whole of the UK’

SCOTLAND is the least happy part of the UK, official figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found people north of the Border are happier now than they were a year ago – but still gloomier than those living in all other parts of the UK.

The national mood improved in England, Wales and Scotland in the year to the end of March 2017 – the first time the happiness index has been published since the EU referendum.

This led the ONS to claim that people now appear to be ‘more relaxed about the implications of Brexit’.

The ONS Annual Population Survey asks people to say how happy they felt the previous day, where 0 is ‘not at all happy’ and 10 is ‘completely happy’.

In Scotland, the average score was 7.45 in 2016-17, compared to 7.41 a year earlier. But it was 7.51 in England, 7.48 in Wales and 7.67 in Northern Ireland.

A Scottish Tory spokesman said: ‘This does appear to jar with the SNP’s rhetoric that Scotland has become miserable since Brexit. Maybe if the Nationalists put more effort into making Brexit work, instead of wishing it to fail, the statistics would be better still.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘These statistics support our ambitions to make Scotland the best place in the world for children to grow up by creating an inclusive, fair, prosperous and innovative country, ready and willing to embrace the future.’