Scots don’t want to exit UK despite Brexit vote: Survey

More than half of Scots do not want independence from the UK despite Britain’s decision to leave the European Union last month, a shock poll has found.

The findings, that about 53 per cent of Scottish voters would rather stay with the UK, has seriously undermined Scottish National Party and Scotland’s nationalist First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, especially since it came just hours after SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson said Scotland was “truly on the brink of independence”.

While Britons backed leaving the EU by 52-48 per cent, Scots voted by 62-38 per cent to remain in the bloc, an outcome, Ms Sturgeon argued, that has changed the political landscape regarding possible Scottish secession.

However, according to Saturday’s YouGov survey, 53 per cent of Scots want to stay part of the UK with 47 per cent backing independence.

Even when asked if they would rather stay in the EU but leave the UK, 46 per cent of the 1,006 respondents said they wanted to remain in the UK and only 37 per cent preferred Scotland becoming an independent nation within the bloc.

Joe Twyman, YouGov’s Head of Political and Social Research, said that “the data suggests the vote to leave the EU has not boosted the cause of Scottish independence.”

Saturday’s shock findings come after another damaging poll found that nearly half of the Scots (46 per cent) believe a second vote on independence would be bad for business and the economy.