Jubilee hits ‘yes’ vote campaign

Jubilee celebrations appear to have stalled First Minister Alex Salmond’s bid for independence, with a new poll suggesting support amongst Scots for leaving the UK is falling.

The Ipsos MORI poll of more than 1000 Scots showed that backing for independence at the planned 2014 referendum now stood at 35 per cent, compared with 39 per cent in January. Over the same period support for staying in the UK has grown, up from 50 to 55 per cent.

The poll comes a month after the SNP officially launched its push for a “yes” vote to independence – although the weeks since that launch have been dominated by coverage of the Queen’s Diamond jubilee celebrations.

The poll also revealed that 77 per cent of Scots plan to vote in the referendum. A spokesman for Mr Salmond said he remained “very confident of achieving a ‘yes’ vote.”