Only one out of three Scots wants Indyref 2 any time soon
...and majority back remaining in UK
ONLY one in three Scots wants another independence referendum, a new opinion poll has revealed.
The survey of 1,000 Scottish voters also found that the No side remains ahead.
According to the poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for the Politico website, 34 per cent support another referendum taking place in the next year, while 41 per cent would back it any time in the next five years.
It also showed that 43 per cent of Scots believe there should only be another referendum if the UK Government agrees to it, while 38 per cent did not agree. When those who don’t know are excluded, 53 per cent think a referendum should only happen with Westminster’s approval.
The poll also found that 47 per cent would vote against independence in a referendum, compared with 44 per cent who would vote for it.
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: ‘This is yet another poll which shows that a majority of people in Scotland oppose the SNP’s negative vision for our future.
‘The very last thing our country needs right now is more division and uncertainty, which is why the SNP should drop its obsession with the constitution and focus on what matters to people – the NHS, jobs and the climate emergency.
‘The positive vision for Scotland’s future is as part of the UK, pooling and sharing resources and keeping the pound so that we can invest in our schools and hospitals, and build a recovery for everyone.’
At the SNP’s annual conference this month, Nicola Sturgeon said there should be a ‘legal referendum’ within this term of the current parliament – and ‘Covid-permitting, by the end of 2023’. The First Minister also claimed there should be a ‘spirit of co-operation’ between the UK and Scottish governments to allow this to happen, adding: ‘Democracy must, and democracy will, prevail.’ But critics say the latest opinion poll shows that there is little appetite in Scotland for another referendum any time soon.
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: ‘The last thing Scotland needs is another independence referendum.
‘All our focus must be on our recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
‘It is clear that the public are firmly against Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to hold another divisive referendum in the next two years.
‘The SNP-Green Government should be fully focused on Scotland’s recovery from Covid but instead, they are diverting vital time and resources to pursue their usual obsession with independence.’
The poll also showed that 39 per cent of voters would be more likely to support independence if it were certain that Scotland would join the European Union.
But 43 per cent said having to adopt the euro – one of the rules for new entrants to the EU – would make them less likely to support independence.
Kirsten Oswald, the SNP deputy leader at Westminster, said: ‘There is a cast-iron democratic mandate for an independence referendum in the current Holyrood term – and there is no democratic justification whatsoever for Boris Johnson or any UK Prime Minister to try to block that mandate.
‘In the election in May, proindependence parties won a clear majority.’
‘Last thing our country needs’