25% back Indyref2 in next year

Aquarter of Scots would support holding a second independence referendum in the next year, while 45% say it should not take place for the next few years, an opinion poll has found.

The Panelbase poll for the Sunday Times found 25% supported holding a referendum in the next 12 months.

Some 30% said they would support a referendum in the next two to five years while 45% agreed with the statement “there should not be another Scottish independence referendum in the next few years”. A total of 1,013 Scottish adults were polled online between March 3 and 5.

The poll also found support for a Yes vote stood at 46%, with No on 47%.

When “don’t knows” are excluded, this put the weighted support for both Yes and No at 50% each.

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, has suggested an independence vote could take place “as early as late 2021”, though other figures in the SNP have refused to be drawn on this comment.

Earlier this week, two other opinion polls suggested support for a No vote had pulled ahead of Yes.

Support for independence was ahead in many throughout the

2020.

The Panelbase/Sunday Times poll also indicated a comfortable lead for the SNP in the upcoming Scottish Parliament election.

The SNP stood at 47% for the constituency vote, with the Conservatives on 23%, Labour on 20%, the Liberal Democrats on 7% and the Greens on 2%.

For the regional list vote, the SNP were on 38%, the Conservatives on 20%, Labour on 17% and both the Lib Dems and Greens on 6%.

SNP depute leader Keith Brown said the poll showed there was support for a post-pandemic referendum. He said: “If Scottish voters back the SNP’s plan to hold a post-pandemic referendum, then the Tories have no right to block it. The Tories are in panic mode and running scared of democracy, but today’s poll shows that Boris Johnson’s Trump-like attempts to block a referendum are completely unsustainable.

“In seven weeks, voters have the chance to decide who should be in charge of Scotland’s Covid recovery – a Scottish Government democratically elected by the people of Scotland, or a Tory government at Westminster that we didn’t vote for led by the likes of Boris Johnson.” opinion polls latter part of

POLL: A quarter supported holding a referendum in the next year.