Support for Scottish independence lower than at 2014 referendum, poll shows

Prime Minister Theresa May has told the Scottish government “now is not the time” for a second independence referendum, saying it would be unfair to ask people to vote without knowing the result of Brexit talks.

May said that talking about an independence vote would make it harder to get a good Brexit deal, saying Sturgeon’s proposed timetable “wouldn’t be fair” to the Scottish people.

That has outraged the SNP.

Nicola Sturgeon has called for a new referendum for Scotland.

In Scotland’s 2014 referendum on independence, over 55 percent of voters elected to stay in the United Kingdom. She followed by referring to the announcement as a strictly political strategy by the SNP.

In the keynote speech May gave in January, she said: “And while I am confident that this scenario need never arise – while I am sure a positive agreement can be reached – I am equally clear that no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain”.

Even for a leader withhigh approval ratings like Ms. Sturgeon, referendums are risky.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said “now is not the time” to reopen Scotland’s independence debate.

Robison said: “Scotland must have the opportunity to protect these European nationals – our friends, neighbours and families – and have the ability to attract their successors in years to come”.

“We will work with business to lift the upfront burden of upskilling Scotland’s workforce from the balance sheets of business, giving firms the freedom to invest in their staff and in their future”.

Given the prospect of a dramatic change in their circumstances post-Brexit, Ms. Sturgeon said the people of Scotland must be allowed to vote on independence once again.

Last June’s vote to leave the European Union has shaken the ties of the United Kingdom’s four nations.

But 52 percent backed Brexit across the whole United Kingdom – a figure driven by voting in England, with which Scotland has an often fraught history.

A ComRes opinion poll for the Sunday Mirror newspaper, published on Saturday but conducted before Sturgeon’s speech, showed 59 percent of Britons think May should insist that a Scottish independence referendum should take place only after Britain leaves the EU.

The Panelbase survey for The Sunday Times and LBC was conducted in the days after Nicola Sturgeon announced her intention to push for a second referendum.

“That is not democratically acceptable”. The “best way to deal with it”, offered the First Minister, was not allowing London to keep “making the same mistakes over and over again”, which was a amusing way to describe higher per-capita spending on public services. If her concern is timing then – within reason – I am happy to have that discussion.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has called for Holyrood to be handed a raft of new powers after Brexit as part of a “third option” which he believes could unite the country. She pledged to boost technical training, reform energy markets and increase selective schools.

Sturgeon wants to put the independence question to Scottish voters before Britain completes its withdrawal from the European Union, which will likely be in the first half of 2019. But a long-term study of social attitudes published on Wednesday showed a more complicated picture.

It is understood SNP strategists are keen to avoid an advisory referendum because of the pitfalls it presents but are keen to keep the option on the table for now.