Poll: Scots oppose separate immigration deal from rUK

A majority of Scots are opposed to Nicola Sturgeon's idea of having a separate immigration system after Brexit, new research suggests. 

According to eminent psephologist Prof John Curtice, just 24 per cent of voters north of the border would welcome a more liberal regime than the rest of the UK. 

Almost two thirds (63 per cent) of Scots want to see the same system in place for the entire UK. 

However, 63 per cent of Scots would accept free movement with the EU as a price for free trade, compared with just 53 per cent across Britain as a whole.

It comes after the SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, called for an alliance of opposition parties to try to keep Britain in the single market. 

The same survey found support for independence static, with Yes at 46 per cent and No at 54 with don't knows removed.

The deputy leader of the Scottish Tories, Jackson Carlaw, claimed the research "exposes just how utterly out of touch the SNP has become".

However there was better news for the SNP with the polling finding that the majority of Scottish voters want to repatriate powers over fishing and farming once they are claimed back from Brussels. And 69 per cent of Scots responding said they think the UK government is handling the Brexit process badly, up 12 points. 

SNP Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Stephen Gethins, said: “This ScotCen survey has deeply worrying findings for the UK government. It is absolutely clear that the vast majority of Scots have lost confidence in the UK’s handling of Brexit."

ScotCen interviewed by internet and phone between 28 September and 29 October 2017 a random sample of 859 people who were first interviewed for the annual Scottish Social Attitudes survey.

Elsewhere, the Times reports that Labour could shift to backing indefinite membership of a modified customs union. 

The paper quotes a source saying the party's position is "fluid" but they hoped to see a change possibly as early as March.