Scotland: Remain’s Lead Slashed by 13 per cent

It’s been long claimed that Brexit is against the wishes of most Scots, but in Scotland the Remain vote has been slashed by 13 per cent in just two months.

Political figures have increasingly warned if Britain votes to leave the European Union (EU) a break-up of the United Kingdom is all but guaranteed. A majority of Scots still back Remain, with figures in April showing 66 per cent of voters in Scotland wanting to stay in the EU, while 29 per cent favouring a Leave vote.

The latest Ipsos Mori poll for STV, of 1,000 adults carried out between June 6 and 12, found that now 53 per cent of respondents support remaining in the EU against 32 per cent backing Brexit – a 13 per cent drop in support for Remain.

Scottish Vote Leave director, Tom Harris, said: “This poll shows that David Cameron’s scare strategy isn’t working in Scotland.

“Scotland has everything to gain from leaving the EU, we would have more powers for the Scottish Parliament, we would have more money to spend on our public services and we would finally have control over our borders.

“The Scottish political class have taken Scottish voters for granted in this referendum, we’re confident that our positive vision for a stronger Scotland outside the EU will shock the political elite on polling day.”

The plunge in support for Remain comes as SNP MP Alex Salmond said that Brexit would lead to a second Scottish independence referendum.

Director at Ipsos Mori Scotland, Mark Diffley, said: “It has been apparent from polling for a long time that Scots are more likely to back continued UK membership of the EU than voters in other parts of the UK, especially in England.

“Although the referendum is UK-wide, the vote in Scotland will be viewed with interest for two reasons.

“Firstly, it may be pivotal in deciding the outcome at a UK level while secondly there may be implications for a second independence referendum in the event of a Brexit when Scots have backed continued membership.”

Despite Mr. Salmond’s claims, in the event that Britain leaves the EU, Scots would still vote to stay in the UK. A poll in May found that in a scenario in which Scotland voted to remain but the UK as a whole backed leave, just 38 per cent said they would back a Yes vote in an independence referendum. Forty-eight per cent said they would vote No, and 14 per cent responded with “don’t know”.

When removing uncertain respondents, the results look very similar to those in Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum  —  44 per cent would vote Yes and 56 per cent would vote No.