United we are strong
Our crusade to keep the Kingdom together
SUPPORT for keeping the UK together is teetering on a knife edge, polls show today as the Daily Express launches a crusade to Unite The Kingdom.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s breakaway campaign has slipped behind in her homeland. For the first time in a year most Scots now reject her call for independence.
Yet they remain deeply split with 51 per cent wanting to stay in the UK and 49 per cent wanting to leave, according to a Savanta ComRes survey commissioned by this newspaper.
And in England, nearly half of voters quizzed (47 per cent) think the rest of the UK would be no worse off if Scotland left.
Leading politicians last night backed our crusade to make the positive case for strengthening the UK after the polls confirmed the divisions as crucial devolved Parliamentary elections loom.
Weaken
Senior Tory Liam Fox, a former Cabinet minister, said: “The Daily Express has understood the threat that separatists pose and that the best opportunities for future generations exist when the family of the UK sticks together.
“Those who seek to divide us would also weaken us, as the recent vaccine programme has shown.”
Andrea Leadsom, another senior Tory and former leader of the Commons said: “There is no doubt in my mind that the UK is stronger together.
“I welcome the Express’s crusade and will be doing everything I can to improve the lives of everyone in all parts of the UK as we come out of the lockdown.”
We are urging politicians and other public figures to make the case for strengthening the UK in the face of a growing constitutional crisis. Ms Sturgeon is demanding a rerun of the 2014 Scottsh independence referendum if the SNP wins elections for the Edinburgh Parliament in May.
And last week, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford claimed the UK, as we know it, was “over” while a poll showed growing support for Welsh separatism has risen to 39 per cent. A separate survey in August showed it was 32 per cent.
Today’s Savanta ComRes polls commissioned by the Daily Express provides a glimmer of hope to those opposed to the break-up of the UK while exposing high levels of support for independence or indifference in many pockets of the electorate.
The survey in Scotland was the first in a year to show a majority against independence – when undecided voters are excluded from the calculation.
It follows a series of grim headlines for Ms Sturgeon, who is engulfed in a high-profile feud with predecessor Alex Salmond.
When all responses were included, the poll showed 45 per cent opposed to independence, 43 per cent in favour, 11 per cent undecided and one per cent declining to give their view.
In a further blow to Ms Sturgeon, a poll of more than 1,000 Scottish voters carried out between February 24 and March 4 showed little enthusiasm for an independence referendum.
Only 17 per cent backed a national ballot in the next year while more than a third (36 per cent) were opposed to one within 10 years or did not want one ever.
A separate Savanta ComRes poll commissioned by the Daily Express, seeking views among English voters, found mixed views.
Twenty-two per cent felt the UK would be better off without Scotland while a further 25 per cent said the UK would be neither better nor worse without Scotland. In a sign of indifference,
only a third (32 per cent) thought the UK would be worse off without Scotland.
A much higher share (44 per cent) felt Scotland would be worse off as an independent country.
Nearly a third of English voters (32 per cent) thought Ms Sturgeon’s plan for an independent Scotland rejoining the EU would make it worse off. And 24 per cent felt Scotland would be better off rejoining the EU.
English voters also showed little enthusiasm about quitting the UK.
Only 15 per cent felt England would be better off as an independent nation while 41 per cent thought it would be worse off. People who voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum were slightly more inclined to back the idea of English independence than those who backed Remain.
Fear about relatives being torn apart by a physical border was the top concern.A total of 19 per cent cited “family and friends separated” as their great worry about the prospect.
Some 17 per cent noted the economic impact, 15 per cent were concerned about the damage to the UK’s shared history and culture with 12 per cent concerned about our standing on the world stage. Seven per cent worried about the possible dismantling of the armed forces.
Younger adults were significantly more likely to think the UK’s economy would suffer the most if Scotland became independent.
Polling expert Lord Hayward said: “The thing I find most striking about this poll is the older generation seem to have an emotional attachment to the Union while younger people recognised the strong economic bond between the two parts of the UK.
Message
“It’s not only just among the younger generation, it’s among Labour voters as well.”
The Tory peer added: “It is a clear indication that the majority of the English don’t want Scots to break away; 44 per cent of the respondents say it would be worse if Scotland broke away.
“The biggest single group are clearly those who feel it would be worse for Scotland if it left the UK. People don’t want Scotland to leave is the most clear message from this poll.”
Chris Hopkins, of Savanta ComRes, said: “This poll showing a narrow ‘No’ lead is perhaps not surprising given the direction of travel of recent polls in Scotland on independence.
“While the architects of the Yes vote, Sturgeon and Salmond, battle it out in a very public inquiry, one must wonder what impact that’s having.”