Poll shows support for independence is at 47 per cent

credit - Parliament TV

Support for independence is two points higher than it was in the 2014 referendum, a new opinion poll has found.

Just over half (53 per cent) of Scots favour staying in the United Kingdom, with 47 per cent backing independence when "don't knows" were excluded, according to the research by Kantar TNS.

That level of support for independence compares to the 45 per cent who voted Yes and the 55 per cent who backed remaining in the UK almost two years ago on September 18, 2014, with pollsters stating the increase is "not statistically significant."

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The new study was carried out in the aftermath of the UK's vote to leave the European Union, which saw most Scots opt to stay in the EU.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned a second independence referendum was now "highly likely", in the wake of the UK’s Brexit vote, which saw Scotland decisively vote to Remain.

Tom Costley, the head of Kantar TNS In Scotland, said the SNP would have "hoped for more of an uplift in support for Scottish independence" since the EU referendum on 23 June.

A total of 1047 adults were questioned for the poll, with interviews carried out between August 10 and September 4.

Overall, two fifths (41 per cent) said they would vote Yes if another referendum on independence was held, while 47 per cent said they would vote No and the remaining 12 per cent did not know.

While about a quarter of people who voted Labour in May's Holyrood elections said they would vote in favour of independence, the research also showed almost a fifth of those who backed Sturgeon's party then would opt to stay in the UK.