We want you to stay Scotland! SNP hopes for referendum dealt blow in new poll
Edwina Currie questions the goals of Scottish independence
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A Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times revealed more than 56 percent of voters in England believe there should not be another referendum in the next few years. This is compared to 17 per cent who expressed a notion to leave whilst 29 per cent didn’t know.
Meanwhile, 58 percent of Welsh voters said they wanted Scotland to stay in the UK whilst 14 per cent wanted Scotland to leave and 28 per cent were not sure or didn’t mind.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to hold a second independence referendum by the end of 2023 subject to economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, there has been a growing debate on the legality of a second independence referendum with constitutional matters being reserved to the UK Government.
A second referendum is expected to be undertaken through the granting of a section 30 order from Westminster, however, the SNP have indicated this could be bypassed if Prime Minister Boris Johnson still refuses consent for a second vote.
Andrew Bowie, Scottish Tory MP for Aberdeenshire West and party vice-chairman, said: “The Union’s broad shoulders have never been more apparent than during the pandemic.
“A world-leading vaccine programme, the furlough scheme and £14.5 billion in extra funding from the Treasury has supported Scotland through such difficult times.
“Our pooling of resources – like the sharing of research and production of new vaccines – is a boon for the whole of the UK.
“So it’s not surprising most people south of the border want to preserve the Union.
“The majority of the British public understand the need to concentrate on the national recovery from Covid – not the division and manufactured grievances offered by the SNP.”
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, added “What matters is that a majority of people living in Scotland don’t want a divisive second independence referendum any time soon, and want their governments to focus on Covid recovery.”
It comes after Scottish MPs will soon be able to veto English laws after Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove scrapped the English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) rule.
The rule was introduced in 2014 by former Prime Minister David Cameron to give “millions of voters across England a voice” following the Scottish independence referendum.
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It means MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have a say on bills deemed to apply only in England, but the rule has rarely been used.
But critics of the plans said it was an “incomprehensible mess” which amounted to a charter to break up the union.
Panelbase polled 3,981 people across the UK between June 18 and July 2.
The SNP has been approached for comment.
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