Opinion poll shows 57 per cent would vote to remain in the UK

A new opinion poll has found 57 per cent of people would vote for Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom if there was a referendum tomorrow.

It leaves 43 per cent who said they would choose to leave the union, when those who didn’t know how they would vote were excluded.

This is higher than the support for staying in the UK in the 2014 independence referendum, where the result was 55 per cent for the union and 45 per cent for independence.

It is the seventh poll in a row showing majority support for staying in the union following 23 that had showed people in Scotland supporting independence.

With ‘don’t knows’ included, the result was 49 per cent for remain and 37 per cent for leave, which is the highest support for remaining in the UK since December 2019.

However, this survey used different wording from the others, asking whether people would vote to remain in the UK or leave rather than vote yes or no to independence.

The poll found that independence was not a top priority for many people, with a majority of Scots saying recovery from COVID-19 was the most important issue facing the country.

The Survation poll showed the NHS and social care, economy and jobs, and the coronavirus public health response were the next three priority matters for respondents, with only eight per cent picking ‘constitutional affairs and independence’ as one of their top three priorities.

Survation conducted the poll for pro-UK Scotland in Union between 9 and 12 March. There were 1,011 respondents aged 16 and over, who live in Scotland.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: "This poll shows that a majority of people in Scotland want to remain part of the UK.

"This confirms the recent trend in polls, with the successful UK vaccination programme and UK-wide support for jobs and businesses reminding us that we are stronger together."

The findings were published on the day the SNP plans to challenge the UK Government, in an opposition day debate, over the impact of Brexit on the Scottish economy and claim ahead of the Holyrood election in May that Scotland has the right to choose its own future.

Ian Blackford MP, the SNP's Westminster leader, said ahead of the debate: "People in Scotland – not Boris Johnson – have the right to decide Scotland’s future.   

"A post-pandemic referendum will be an opportunity to put Scotland’s recovery in Scotland’s hands – not those of Boris Johnson and his band of Brexiteers."

Nash said: "The SNP should focus on what really matters to people – COVID recovery, NHS and social care, and jobs. Instead it has chosen to use parliamentary time to debate separation, which shows how out of touch the nationalists are."