Poll finds majority of Scots in favour of independence

5 August 2019, 10:02 | Updated: 5 August 2019, 10:04

A new poll has found a majority of Scots are now in favour of independence which Scotland's First Minister described as phenomenal.

The Lord Ashcroft poll puts support for independence at 46% and 43% against.

When those who said they did not know how they would vote, or said they would not vote, were removed, support for independence was at 52% and 48% were against.

The online poll questioned 1,019 adults in Scotland
between July 30 and August 2.

It found 47% felt there should be a second independence referendum within the next two years, with 45% against the proposal.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "This is a phenomenal poll for the independence movement - showing that more and more people think it's time that Scotland took our own decisions and shaped our own future as a fair, prosperous, outward-looking nation."

Ms Sturgeon said the case for independence was growing stronger by the day as Scotland is "dragged towards a no-deal Brexit".

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: "We didn't vote for Brexit, we didn't vote for a Tory government and I'm certain that given the choice we wouldn't have voted for Boris Johnson either - yet we are being dragged along with the ever increasing Brexit catastrophe.

"It's no wonder that a majority of Scots now recognise the need for us to make an exit from Boris Johnson's Brexit Britain.

"We already have a mandate to hold an independence referendum, yet the Tory Government has threatened to block a request.

"This would be an affront to democracy, and is wholly untenable in the face of public support for a vote."