LONDON: Scottish support for independence seems to be waning, a new opinion poll has showed, just 5 days before Scotland votes on whether to separate from the rest of the United Kingdom.
The survey by the pro-union “Better Together” campaign found support for staying in the United Kingdom was at 54 percent, while 46 percent were planning to vote for independence on September 18, once undecideds were excluded.
“This poll suggests that ‘No’ are in the lead but that the race is far from over,” Blair McDougall, campaign director of the “Better Together” campaign said.
The poll comes as a boost to the anti-independence campaign after the latest “poll of polls” on Friday showed the vote remained on a knife-edge, with just 51 percent support for staying in the UK.
While polls had consistently shown strong leads for the “No” campaign to reject independence, a recent surge in support for “Yes” has prompted some investors to sell the pound.
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair, decided to wade into the debate saying a breaking up of the UK would not be a sensible step. “I hope Scotland votes to stay part of the United Kingdom,” Blair said. “For all the reasons given by all the party leaders of the UK, in the 21st Century to rip up the alliance between our countries would not be sensible, politically, economically or even emotionally.”
Meanwhile, an ICM poll said support for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom has taken the lead over unionists. The poll was taken for the Telegraph newspaper but was reported by the Sunday Times on its front-page before its official release. It showed support for the pro-independence “Yes” campaign rise to 54 percent, a 9-point swing from their last online poll, with support for “No” at 46 percent.
However, a small sample size of 705 people means its margin of error is higher than most other polls and polling expert John Curtice said the survey came with “a substantial health warning.”
Scotland votes on Thursday whether to end a 307-year-old union with England and break away from the UK. Agencies
