Backing for Scottish independence hits five-year high of 54 per cent as SNP gloats that Boris Johnson’s coronavirus blunders are helping them break up the UK
- Panelbase poll shows support for independence in Scotland has hit 54 per cent
- Excluding ‘don’t knows’, it is the highest level in any survey for almost five years
- SNP gloated that Boris Johnson’s coronavirus blunders are helping the campaign
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Backing for Scottish independence has hit a near five year high of 54 per cent as the SNP claimed Boris Johnson’s coronavirus blunders are helping their campaign.
A Panelbase poll showed support for breaking up the UK was up two points in a fortnight, to a level not reached in any survey since August 2015.
Excluding don’t knows, the research suggests that Scots would support independence by 54 per cent to 46 per cent in a referendum, which Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold next year once the pandemic subsides.
SNP depute leader Keith Brown gloated that voters north of the border were comparing Ms Sturgeon’s handling of coronavirus to that of Mr Johnson.
Panelbase has now conducted five polls on the issue in 2020, with only one showing support for independence below 50 per cent.
A Panelbase poll showed support for breaking up the UK has hit 54 per cent when don’t knows are excluded, a level not reached in any survey since August 2015
The latest study of 1,070 Scottish residents over the age of 16 took place between June 15 and 19.
Support from splitting from the UK was 50 per cent compared to 43 per cent who preferred to maintain the union. Some 7 per cent said they did not know.
The previous surveys by the firm put the figures at 52 per cent, 49 per cent, 50 per cent, and 52 per cent.
The last time backing for independence was higher was an Ipsos MORI poll in August 2015.
In the 2014 referendum – billed as a once-in-a-generation decision – Scots voted by a convincing margin of 55-45 per cent to stay in the UK.
Ms Sturgeon says she has put aside the independence issue during coronavirus chaos, with planning for a fresh vote ‘paused’, but has faced accusations of trying to use the situation for political advantage.
Mr Brown said: ‘Poll after poll now puts support for independence above 50 per cent. This is no longer a trend – majority support for independence is now the established position,’ he told the National
‘All efforts of the Scottish Government have rightly been focused on combating the current Covid crisis but, where Nicola Sturgeon has shown exemplary leadership, the Westminster Government has lurched from blunder to blunder and the clear gulf in class is clearly not lost on Scottish voters.
‘It’s no surprise the majority of Scots want shot of Boris Johnson and his cabinet of incompetents.’
SNP depute leader Keith Brown gloated that voters north of the border were comparing Ms Sturgeon’s handling of coronavirus to that of Boris Johnson (pictured on a visit to a school in Hertfordshire last week)