Election could boost independence say 40% of Scots

MORE than 40 per cent of Scots believe the general election campaign can increase the likelihood of independence, according to new data.

Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP are on track to make huge gains on May 7. Picture: Getty

The Sky News survey also found that 55 per cent of Scots believe independence is likely in their lifetimes, while 50 per cent of voters across the UK believe the Union will break up in their lifetime.

Alistair Darling, former Labour chancellor and leader of the pro-Union Better Together campaign, said that the findings were down to the Conservatives ‘bigging up’ the SNP.

He told Sky News: “They’re playing English nationalism off against Scottish nationalism. If you play fast and loose with constitution there will be consequences.”

Earlier today, Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy attacked David Cameron’s ‘crude and cheap’ English nationalism, telling supporters in Edinburgh that only ‘social solidarity’ could stop a nationalist surge.

Mr Murphy added: “David Cameron is playing with fire, with his crude and cheap tactics. The Scottish Tory Party no longer exists in any meaningful sense.”

The Prime Minister has been warning voters of the potential ‘chaos’ if Labour agree a deal with the SNP after the election.

Earlier this week, former Prime Minister Sir John Major described the Nationalists as a ‘real and present danger’ to the UK.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said in the past that she is not planning a second referendum.

The survey also suggested that more than half of voters backing the SNP regarded ‘scrapping Trident renewal’ as a red line in any coalition deal.