57 percent of Scottish voters are in favour of remaining within the United Kingdom, according to a recently released poll published by YouGov.
The poll, which samples 1028 Scottish adults, asked participants whether they thought Scotland should be an independent country. However, despite mounting pressure from Nicola Sturgeons’ Scottish National Party (SNP) in Westminster for a second referendum, the latest statistics suggest otherwise. YouGov tweeted about the poll:
Latest headline voting intention for #indyref2 – No 57%, Yes 43%. Highest No lead since August 2014 https://t.co/VsZT4XE6ta pic.twitter.com/h24wYleB8V
— YouGov (@YouGov) 15 March 2017
These latest figures are casting doubts upon Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a second Scottish independence referendum on the issue of Brexit negotiations. This marks no real change from the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum results, where 55 per cent backed remaining compared to the 45 per cent who voted in favour of leaving.
Indeed, Angus Robertson, Deputy SNP leader appeared to backtrack on the idea of a second referendum in comments to the Guardian. He said:
“There may only be days, may only be weeks, but where all of our efforts are currently focused is trying to convince the UK government to come to a compromise agreement protecting Scotland’s place in Europe.
“If that road runs out and if we have to have that referendum, we will be turning our attention to making sure that we are making the case publicly, intellectually and in every other way so people understand the choice of a hard Tory Brexit or a Scotland able to maintain its relations with the rest of Europe.”
A major pressure on the Theresa May government with respect to Brexit negotiations has been ensuring the preservation of the union. However, in addition to deflating momentum for independence, the country also appears to be shifting towards a euroscepticism.
The aforementioned report also revealed that 25 percent of voters want Britain to leave the EU, with a further 42 percent advocating the reduction of EU, combining to reveal 67 percent of people holding Eurosceptic sentiments.
The Government Brexit Secretary David Davis appeared before the Commons Committee on Wednesday plans to discuss the triggering of Article 50 and the formalisation of the Brexit process.