Scottish independence poll now puts Yes ahead

SCOTLAND would vote Yes to independence if another referendum were held now, a new poll has found.

Yes campaigners protesting outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh following the Scottish independence referendum. Picture: PA

Independence now has the backing of 52 per cent of people in Scotland compared with 48 per cent for the Union, a YouGov poll published yesterday. When those who would not vote or do not know are included, the split is 49 per cent for Yes and 45 per cent for No, the poll of 1,078 Scottish adults between 27 and 30 October found.

The support for independence was found, despite 55 per cent voting in favour of keeping the UK together in the referendum on 18 September.

Two-fifths of people think a second poll will be held within the next ten years, slightly more (45 per cent) want this to happen but 16 per cent never want another vote on independence, the poll found.

It comes on the back of a separate Ipsos Mori poll for STV last week which found two-thirds of Scots want another independence referendum within the next ten years while more than half think a vote on the country’s future should take place within just five years.

Yesterday’s YouGov poll also found 43 per cent of Labour supporters now back independence, with only 22 per cent saying Labour represents their interests well against 65 per cent who said it represents them badly.

Data from the same poll released yesterday suggests the party is facing a near wipeout in Scotland, with the SNP enjoying a 16-point lead on Westminster voting intentions.

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The poll was conducted in the aftermath of Johann Lamont’s departure as Scottish Labour leader – a resignation which has plunged the party north of the border into crisis.

Lamont quit at the end of last month complaining that UK Labour treats Scotland like a “branch office”.

New data released in yesterday’s poll suggests only 3 per cent of people feel Scottish Labour has a lot of freedom to pursue different policies from the UK party, while one-quarter said it has none at all.

Nearly three-fifths of people (58 per cent) said Lamont

was right to quit against 11 per cent who said she was wrong to go.

Yesterday a spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party said: “Six weeks ago the people of Scotland made their voice heard when more than two million voted to remain part if the UK. This is the settled will of Scots and the SNP should drop their obsession with independence and get on with using the powers they have to make a difference right now.”

The SNP reacted to the poll by referring to a speech made by incoming leader Nicola Sturgeon in which she said that she accepted the referendum result, but still believed that independence was the best way forward for Scotland and it was up to the Scottish people to decide when to hold another referendum.

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