Poll: Majority of English voters think Scotland subsidised by England

The latest poll from Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative donor, found voters south of the border think Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively benefit more from the union than the rest of the UK.

Just over half of all voters (51 per cent) think England subsidises Scotland financially, but they are divided as to whether or not they are happy with this arrangement (while four in ten say they don’t know whether they subsidise Scotland or not).

He wrote: "The widespread view that the English “pay for Scotland” goes hand-in-hand with the knowledge that Scots get certain things – free NHS prescriptions and free university education – that are not available in England: in other words, that English taxpayers are paying for the Scots to have things that they don’t get themselves."

Lord Ashcroft added: "Moreover, it rankled with some of our English voters that Scotland seemed to show little affinity for the union they felt they were paying to maintain."

Brexit and independence

The poll survey English attitudes to the Union. Picture: Lisa Ferguson/TSPL

The survey of 1558 English adults also found more than three-quarters of Conservative Leave voters in England would rather the UK left the European Union than Scotland remained part of the UK.

Of those surveyed 43 per cent believe Brexit makes Scottish independence more likely, with 23 per cent saying it makes no difference.

Overall, 51 per cent of those polled, all based in England, said they wouldn’t mind either way if Scotland voted for independence, while 39 per cent said they would be sorry if Scotland voted to leave the UK, and only six per cent said they would be happy with the outcome.