A NEW poll puts support for independence in the lead as the police probe into the SNP’s finances rumbles on.
The survey, carried out by pollsters Find Out Now from June 7 to 12 and is said to have included responses after Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest, put support for independence on 43.4% against support for No at just 39.2% with 10.8% saying they did not know.
This rises to 52.5% once “don’t knows” are excluded.
The poll, commissioned by the Alba Party, shows support for independence continues to hold a strong lead among young people, with Yes in the lead by 55.2% among those aged 18-24, rising to 56.2% among those aged 24-35.
Support is lowest among those aged 65 and over – with No polling at 64.1% in that age bracket.
The poll is consistent with others showing support for independence highest among 2019 SNP voters (85.4%) and demonstrating that slightly under one-third of Scottish Labour voters at the last election would back Yes.
Alba have argued the results bolster their argument for a pro-Yes coalition to contest next year’s General Election.
The party have called for independence-supporting parties to come together under a “Scotland United” ticket.
This would mean the SNP would not stand candidates in Alba’s two seats while Alex Salmond’s party would sit out of contests in SNP safe seats – as well as giving a free run to other parties such as the Greens or the Scottish Socialists in other constituencies.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, chair of the Alba Party, said: “This latest poll shows that support for independence is high but we know from other recent polling that support for the SNP is falling backwards, with no realistic prospect of any immediate improvement.
“These results dramatically reinforce the Alba Party proposal of a Scotland United pro-independence pact at the next General Election to ensure that independence doesn’t suffer a setback because of the tribulations of one political party.
“All participating parties in this Yes alliance would stand under a prime manifesto commitment of seeking a popular mandate to begin independence negotiations with Westminster.
“To win the election for Scotland we need to be campaigning on independence not on party politics.
“Only independence will deliver economic justice to the people of Scotland by ensuring that Scotland’s future is in Scotland’s hands.”
Researchers interviewed 1,029 people for the survey and the representative sample size was 558.
