OLYMPIC HAMMER BLOW FOR SALMOND
EXCLUSIVE: Support for independence at a new low in wake of Team GB’S successes
THE success of Team GB at the Olympics has helped send support for independence plummeting, with a new poll revealing barely a quarter of Scots now share Alex Salmond’s dream of breaking up Britain.
An exclusive opinion poll for The Scottish Mail on Sunday found 60 per cent of Scots voters oppose independence.
In a major blow for the First Minister, only 27 per cent backed SNP plans to separate Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom.
This is the lowest level of support for independence in two-and-half years and down from the 30 per cent who backed separation in a poll issued in the first week of the Olympics,
The level of support is also a far cry from the 35 per cent achieved last April on the eve of the Holyrood election.
In a further setback for the SNP, support
for keeping Scotland in the Union among young voters has soared in recent months, with nearly twothirds of 18 to 24-year-olds now against separation.
The latest poll – conducted in the days following last Sunday’s Olympic Closing Ceremony – also reveals a surge in the number of people fed up with the SNP’s attempts to rally support for a second question on more powers for Holyrood in the 2014 vote.
The Progressive Scottish Opinion poll shows 53 per cent of people want a straight Yes/No question in the referendum – up from 43 per cent when the question was asked in January.
The exploits of cycling star Sir Chris Hoy and tennis ace Andy Murray at the Olympics have led to a renewed interest in Britishness north of the Border, despite Mr Salmond’s attempt to claim the home-grown Team GB stars for Scotland.
Despite a landslide SNP victory in the Scottish parliament elections last year, a surge in support for independence has failed to follow.
Pro-Union supporters yesterday claimed the success of Team GB will boost their efforts to persuade a majority of Scots to vote No in 2014.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Anas Sarwar said: ‘I am sure most people in Scotland would have been cheering for Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah just as much as they would have been our home-grown stars like Andy Murray.
‘Yes, you cheer on the Scots, but you don’t stop when it turns to the rest of Team GB.
‘I think Sir Chris Hoy summed it up perfectly when he said he was Scottish and British and his success is just one example of how Scots do benefit from being a part of Team GB.
‘On a wider point, the amazing success Team GB had at the Olympics is a neat example of why we and, as this poll clearly shows, the majority of Scots feel we are better together with Scotland part of the United Kingdom.
‘It is a partnership and one which has untold success stories, not just in sport.’
The poll of 1,177 adults, carried out between Tuesday and Thursday last week by Progressive Scottish Opinion, asked: ‘Do you agree that Scotland should become a country independent from the rest of the UK?’
A total of 27 per cent of respondents backed independence, 60 per cent were against and 13 per cent didn’t know.
The support for separation is the lowest in a poll conducted by YouGov since February 2010.
The latest poll also contrasts with a YouGov survey published on August 1, six days into the London Games, when 30 per cent of Scots backed separation and 54 per cent were against it.
The survey also shows 62 per cent of the 144 people in the 18 to 24-year-old age group polled oppose independence, with only 22 per cent in favour.
This is a big shift from November last year, when 42 per cent were against separation and 35 per cent were in favour.
Former Chancellor Alistair Darling, a spokesman for the pro-Union campaign Better Together, said: ‘We welcome the results of The Scottish Mail on Sunday poll. It is the latest survey to show that support for tearing Scotland away from the United Kingdom is continuing to THE ‘Olympic factor’ has, as predicted, turned out to be a nightmare for Alex Salmond’s hopes of separatism. An exclusive poll conducted for The Scottish Mail on Sunday by Progressive Scottish Opinion shows support for independence down to 27 per cent, the lowest level in two and a half years.
Among 18 to 24-year-olds, the age group on which Alex Salmond pinned most hope, almost twothirds are now opposed to separation, while a majority of respondents want a single referendum question on independence Yes/No.
The spectacle of Scottish athletes winning gold medals as part of Team GB, cheered by supporters from across the UK, and draping themselves in the Union Flag has been a timely reminder to Scots of the status and practical advantages they enjoy as part of Britain. fall. However, no one on our campaign is in any way complacent. The only poll that matters is the referendum.
‘What is significant, however, is that we find ourselves in the ludicrous situation where we still have no idea about