The Scotsman cartoon: Independent Scotland and EU

DEPUTY First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said Scotland being kept out of the EU would put at risk the residency rights of people from other European states living in the country after it became ­independent.

Illustration: Iain Green

More than 14 million EU citizens are resident in another member state – as part of the union’s core principles that permits free movement between countries.

An ICM survey showed a 3 per cent increase in backing for independence if voters in Scotland thought the UK was “very likely” to pull out of the EU.

Support for the No campaign also slumped when voters were asked which side they would support, if they thought in September that British withdrawal from the EU was a real prospect in a “few years’ time”.

MORE INFO

• Scots’ fears of EU exit boost independence support