Quarter of Scots Believe British Spies are Trying to Sabotage Referendum

One in four Scottish voters believe British spies are trying to stop them voting for independence next week, according to a new poll.

The YouGov poll for Buzzfeed shows that 26 percent of Scots think it is “probably true” that security services will work to protect the union, while a further 20 percent said they “don’t know” whether it is true. Although a majority of voters – 55 percent – think the suggestion is false, the result still illustrates how much Scots distrust the political establishment.

The poll also found that nearly half of Scots believe that the British government is hiding vast new oil reserves in the North Sea in order to persuade them that there will not be enough to fund a newly-independent country.

Nineteen percent also think the referendum will probably be rigged.

A total of 42 percent believe it is “probably true” that the British government is hiding oil reserves, while another 42 percent believe it to be “probably false”. Seventeen percent don’t know.

In a further illustration of how distrusted politicians are in Scotland, the poll reveals that Scots distrust all politicians, both in London and Edinburgh. British Prime Minister David Cameron is distrusted by nearly three quarters of the population, while Labour leader Ed Miliband fares little better with 67 percent distrusting him.

Although the support is higher for Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, 58 percent of Scots still say they distrust him.