> Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to focus on the health service after independence slipped to eighth in the list of voters’ priorities, a poll has found.
The proportion of voters who ranked the constitution in their preference for the Scottish government’s top three priorities fell by eight points to 13 per cent. Fewer than one third of SNP voters (28 per cent) ranked independence on their hierarchy of priorities.
Yesterday the first minister said that she would be taking the “necessary steps” to ensure that a referendum was held within the next two years, including publishing a bill in the Scottish parliament.
> Civil servants have already been told to work on a new white paper setting out the case for independence.
The SNP’s manifesto before the Holyrood election said another vote would take place before the end of 2023, depending on the state of the pandemic.
Sturgeon told the BBC that a renewed “yes” campaign has “still got a job to do” to persuade a majority of Scottish voters that the country should become independent.
“I think we are much closer to that than ever before, but are we there yet? No,” she added.
> She said that she did not want a referendum to be held “while we are still worrying about face coverings and testing ourselves every day”.
A poll by YouGov for The Times finds that 40 per cent of people say they would vote yes in another referendum, a drop of one point compared with the company’s last survey in May.
The proportion of people who would vote no remained at 46 per cent, while 9 per cent said they were unsure, up by one point. The remainder would not vote or refused to say.
When undecided voters were removed, 53 per cent back the Union, compared with 47 per cent who favour independence, which is unchanged from May.
Boris Johnson has said it would be reckless to have a referendum while the country is dealing with the impact of the coronavirus.
Sturgeon said that she hoped the country would be out of the “acute” phase of the pandemic early next year. At that point, she predicted, people’s minds would be turning to the “positive, optimistic task of how do we build a better country, how do we build a fairer, more equal, more prosperous country”.
Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Conservative chief whip, said Sturgeon’s interview “confirmed she is going to spend the next four years obsessing about breaking up the United Kingdom and failing Scotland, just as she has done for the last 14 years”.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said: “The depressing thing about every Nicola Sturgeon interview is how obvious it is that she cares more about breaking up our family of nations than she does about your parent’s operation, your partner’s job or your child’s education.”
YouGov found that health was once again seen as the most important issue by voters, with 57 per cent ranking it as a top priority, an increase of two points compared with May.
The economy also fell back in the list of priorities, falling by 16 points to 39 per cent. Education also dropped seven points to 35 per cent.
The largest increase in people’s list of priorities was for social care, which 26 per cent of voters said should be at the forefront of ministers’ minds, an increase of eight points from May. Crime also went up five points to 16 per cent.
Perhaps surprisingly, given Glasgow has recently hosted the Cop26 conference, climate change and the environment only increased by four points to be a key issue for 30 per cent of people.
Yes: 40
No: 46
Don’t know: 9
Wouldn’t vote: 4
Refuse: 2
With others excluded:
Yes: 46.5
No: 53.5
This title is deeply misleading.
I’m a big supporter of independence and it isn’t even in my top 3 priorities right now. Doesn’t mean people don’t support it (since consistent polling over year and years shows that there is still a hugely fortified base of support that isn’t going anywhere).
You can support something wholeheartedly and still think a more immediate issue needs addressing right now.
4 comments
> Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to focus on the health service after independence slipped to eighth in the list of voters’ priorities, a poll has found.
The proportion of voters who ranked the constitution in their preference for the Scottish government’s top three priorities fell by eight points to 13 per cent. Fewer than one third of SNP voters (28 per cent) ranked independence on their hierarchy of priorities.
Yesterday the first minister said that she would be taking the “necessary steps” to ensure that a referendum was held within the next two years, including publishing a bill in the Scottish parliament.
> Civil servants have already been told to work on a new white paper setting out the case for independence.
The SNP’s manifesto before the Holyrood election said another vote would take place before the end of 2023, depending on the state of the pandemic.
Sturgeon told the BBC that a renewed “yes” campaign has “still got a job to do” to persuade a majority of Scottish voters that the country should become independent.
“I think we are much closer to that than ever before, but are we there yet? No,” she added.
> She said that she did not want a referendum to be held “while we are still worrying about face coverings and testing ourselves every day”.
A poll by YouGov for The Times finds that 40 per cent of people say they would vote yes in another referendum, a drop of one point compared with the company’s last survey in May.
The proportion of people who would vote no remained at 46 per cent, while 9 per cent said they were unsure, up by one point. The remainder would not vote or refused to say.
When undecided voters were removed, 53 per cent back the Union, compared with 47 per cent who favour independence, which is unchanged from May.
Boris Johnson has said it would be reckless to have a referendum while the country is dealing with the impact of the coronavirus.
Sturgeon said that she hoped the country would be out of the “acute” phase of the pandemic early next year. At that point, she predicted, people’s minds would be turning to the “positive, optimistic task of how do we build a better country, how do we build a fairer, more equal, more prosperous country”.
Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Conservative chief whip, said Sturgeon’s interview “confirmed she is going to spend the next four years obsessing about breaking up the United Kingdom and failing Scotland, just as she has done for the last 14 years”.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said: “The depressing thing about every Nicola Sturgeon interview is how obvious it is that she cares more about breaking up our family of nations than she does about your parent’s operation, your partner’s job or your child’s education.”
YouGov found that health was once again seen as the most important issue by voters, with 57 per cent ranking it as a top priority, an increase of two points compared with May.
The economy also fell back in the list of priorities, falling by 16 points to 39 per cent. Education also dropped seven points to 35 per cent.
The largest increase in people’s list of priorities was for social care, which 26 per cent of voters said should be at the forefront of ministers’ minds, an increase of eight points from May. Crime also went up five points to 16 per cent.
Perhaps surprisingly, given Glasgow has recently hosted the Cop26 conference, climate change and the environment only increased by four points to be a key issue for 30 per cent of people.
Yes: 40
No: 46
Don’t know: 9
Wouldn’t vote: 4
Refuse: 2
With others excluded:
Yes: 46.5
No: 53.5
This title is deeply misleading.
I’m a big supporter of independence and it isn’t even in my top 3 priorities right now. Doesn’t mean people don’t support it (since consistent polling over year and years shows that there is still a hugely fortified base of support that isn’t going anywhere).
You can support something wholeheartedly and still think a more immediate issue needs addressing right now.
Non paywall link
https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,nicola-sturgeon-popularity-ratings-drop-by-nearly-40-points-with-scottish-voters