LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A majority of Scots support
independence from the United Kingdom, a YouGov poll found on
Wednesday, with support for nationalists bolstered by a much
more positive view of how they have responded to COVID-19
compared with London.
The poll for the Times newspaper found that 53% of people
would vote for Scottish independence in a referendum, up 2
percentage points from January and the highest level of support
for independence recorded by YouGov.
It is the latest poll to suggest rising support for Scottish
independence and could strengthen calls for another vote on the
matter, after Scots rejected it in a 2014 referendum by 55%-45%.
The Scottish National Party, who run the devolved
administration in the nation, insist they have the right to call
another vote. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the
2014 referendum was decisive and should be respected.
The poll also suggested the SNP were on course for an
unprecedented majority in the Scottish Parliament in elections
next year, setting up a possible constitutional clash with
Westminster.
Much of the increase in support appeared to be linked to
diverging views of the leadership in Scotland and the United
Kingdom as a whole. Some 72% of respondents agreed Scottish
First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was doing very or
fairly well, while only 20% said that for Johnson.
The YouGov Poll found 52% of voters believed Scotland was
going in the right direction, up 20 percentage points from when
the question was last asked a year ago.
Sturgeon's Scottish Government has responsibility for health
policy, and she has been more cautious than Johnson in easing
lockdown.
Scotland, which holds about 10% of the UK's population, has
had no deaths from COVID-19 since mid-July. The UK, which uses a
broader methodology to count deaths that is being reviewed, as a
whole has recorded 1,362 deaths in that time.
YouGov polled 1,142 adults between August 6-10.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Kate Holton)