Poll: Support for Scottish Independence Increasing
Support for the "Yes" campaign backing an independent Scotland is growing sharply, eight months of a referendum on the issue, according to a poll published in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper.
Some 37 percent of those surveyed said they supported independence, with 44 percent opposed and 19 percent undecided. This is a five point gain for the "Yes" campaign since the last ICM survey was conducted last September.
"Once the 'Don't Knows' are excluded from the calculation, those figures translate into 46 percent Yes, 54 percent No, the highest Yes proportion yet in any poll, other than in a much-criticized poll conducted by Panelbase for the SNP (Scottish National Party) in August last year," explained poll expert John Curtice.
While independent polls have consistently shown for twenty years that only a third of Scottish voters favor independence, a poll conducted by the nationalists in August found 44 percent in favor and 43 percent against.
But the survey was criticized as being partisan and the methodology questioned by experts.
Blair Jenkins, chief executive of Yes Scotland, said the new poll "demonstrates very clearly that we are getting our message across and that momentum is very much on our side".
Scots will vote on their independence on September 18 this year.
Scotland has enjoyed increased autonomy within the United Kingdom, which also includes England, Wales and Northern Ireland, since a 1997 referendum.
Its parliament looks after education, health, environment and justice, but defense and foreign policy are still decided by London, which is calling on Scots to reject independence.
Source: Agence France Presse
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