EDINBURGH • Support for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom has risen to its highest point in the past four years, largely driven by voters who want to remain in the European Union, according to a poll.
As the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) meets for its two-day spring conference, the YouGov poll published last Saturday showed support for secession had risen to 49 per cent from 45 per cent at the last YouGov poll carried out for The Times last June.
The SNP is preparing a new independence push after it was defeated in a 2014 referendum by concerns over the economy.
Their proposal for an independent Scotland to continue using the pound in a currency union with Britain was perceived as a particular weakness.
On Saturday, the SNP leadership proposed that if the country voted for independence it should use Britain's pound until a Scottish currency meeting six economic tests could be introduced.
Delegates rejected that in favour of a more pressing timeframe and formulation urging preparations to introduce a new currency "as soon as practicable after Independence Day", preserving the six economic tests. These were set out by the party's growth commission, and include an independent Scotland having a "sufficiently strong and credible fiscal position in relation to Budget deficit and overall debt" before a separate currency is introduced. And there would need to be evidence that the new currency would "meet the ongoing needs of Scottish residents and businesses".
Scots rejected independence by 45-55 per cent in a 2014 referendum. Then the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a 2016 referendum. But among its four nations, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay, feeding political tension. Britain is mired in political chaos and it is still unclear when or even if it will leave the EU.
YouGov also found that 53 per cent of Scots thought there should not be another referendum on independence within the next five years. Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader, Ms Nicola Sturgeon, is pushing for one before 2021, when the current Scottish parliamentary terms ends.
YouGov polled 1,029 adults in Scotland following a new guideline on independence set out by Ms Sturgeon last Wednesday.
The poll also showed voters north of the English border moving away from both the Conservatives and the Labour Party.
The Scottish Conservatives, part of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party, are set to lose their only representative in the European Parliament in next month's election as 40 per cent of those who backed them two years ago switch to Mr Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.
REUTERS
