No campaign ahead though Scots optimistic about prospects under independence

New figures have revealed that of those certain to vote in September’s referendum on Scottish independence 58 per cent intend to vote no compared to 42 per cent who say they will vote yes.

New figures have revealed that of those certain to vote in September’s referendum on Scottish independence 58 per cent intend to vote no compared to 42 per cent who say they will vote yes.

Responding to the findings, a spokesperson for the Better Together campaign has said:

“This poll is yet another sign that our campaign speaks for the majority of Scots who want Scotland to remain a proud member of the UK. People can see the consequences of leaving the UK. We would be giving up the pound as our currency, we would be giving up our membership of the European Union and we would be putting our pensions at risk.

“We believe that we can have the best of both worlds. We can have a strong Scottish parliament with more powers guaranteed and we can have the strength, security and stability that comes from being part of the larger UK.

“As encouraging as this poll is, there can be no complacency. The nationalists only need to win once and by a single vote to take Scotland out of the UK forever. We need everybody who believes that we are stronger and better together as part of the UK to do their bit and get involved.”

The lead for the no to independence campaign, contained within the latest polling conducted for Channel 4 News by YouGov, comes despite a growing concern about the way that the Britain has a whole is developing, with 60 per cent of respondents agreeing to a statement that, “The way Britain has developed it is no longer a country I want Scotland to be part of.”

Strikingly, Scots voters seem more optimistic about how things would pan out if Scotland did go it alone despite a growing doubts over the credibility and viability of a number of Alex Salmond et al’s propositions about the status of an independent Scotland.

Almost half (45 per cent) of those questioned feel that an independent Scotland would probably be able to continue using the pound compared to 38 per cent who feel that this probably wouldn’t happen, despite opposition to such a plan from all three of the main UK parties.

46 per cent also feel that Scotland probably would remain a member of the European Union compared to 34 per cent who feel that this probably wouldn’t happen, despite warnings from the President of the European Commission that it would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible” for an independent Scotland to join the EU.

Blair Jenkins, chief executive of the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign has responded:

“The headline figures in this poll are almost identical to the last YouGov poll in March. But an ICM poll conducted only last month puts the gap between Yes and No at only four percentage points while a poll of polls for April reveals that Yes needs a swing of just over five points to take the lead.

“There is little doubt that momentum is very much with Yes because more and more people are realising that Westminster simply isn’t working and that putting Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands makes absolute sense.”

One Response to “No campaign ahead though Scots optimistic about prospects under independence”

  1. Christian Wright

    At this stage of the race, you can really only compare this poll with previous iterations of the same poll employing the same sampling methodologies and analyses, or include it as part of a meta analysis. Polls will eventually converge as the referendum gets nearer but for now . . .

    What you cannot do is randomly assign it significance out of it context. What these polls may offer us is insight into trend – that’s what they are good for.

    Now, with respect to this poll – if you analyse the data you’l find Yes is static compared to the previous YouGov poll and NO has lost a point. That is to say this poll indicates a slight narrowing of the gap and that YES is still advancing.

    The change is of course within the margin of error, but against that, the YouGuv poll has been something of a lagging indicator and habitually an outlier on a low YES vote. The greater optimism for the outcome of going it alone MAY be reflected in the point loss for no with some moving from NO to swithering.

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