Scots not swayed by ID cards

A poll conducted by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that barely half of Scots were in favour of making the cards compulsory, compared with 72 per cent for Britain as a whole.

The support for civil liberties within Scotland was revealed in a survey of more than 2,000 people across the United Kingdom, including 337 in Scotland.

It found that almost two-thirds of voters would support some state funding of political parties to reduce their dependence on donations from wealthy individuals.

The poll found that 62 per cent agreed "strongly" or "slightly" on the case for state funding, while a more emphatic 74 per cent wanted to see a cap on donations, to limit the danger of individuals seeking to buy influence.

The State of the Nation 2004 poll suggested high levels of discontent over Britain’s political system, with 63 per cent saying it needed "quite a lot" or "a great deal" of improvement, and only 34 per cent saying little or no change was required.

More than half of those questioned said Britain was becoming less democratic.

And all three major parties were disliked more than they were liked by voters.

The Conservatives emerged as the most unpopular mainstream party, with 44 per cent of respondents saying they disliked the party, compared with 24 per cent who liked them.

Support for a written constitution, which has always won the backing of a majority in the annual State of the Nation surveys, reached its highest point since the polls began in 1991, at 83 per cent.

A substantially-elected House of Lords remained the clear preference of voters, with 67 per cent backing a wholly or largely elected second chamber, against just 12 per cent who thought the majority of peers should be appointed.

A total of 63 per cent said they wanted proportional representation for Westminster, and there were high levels of support for decisions on employment, roads and public transport to be taken at a regional level, rather than in Whitehall.