More than half of English voters say
they are opposed to Scotland’s plan to keep using the pound if
the country votes for independence, a poll indicated.
Only 23 percent of respondents to the YouGov Plc poll across England backed Scotland keeping the pound, compared with 53 percent who were against. The survey for Cardiff University and the ESRC Scottish Centre on Constitutional Change based at Edinburgh University was carried out in April, after all three main British political parties expressed their opposition to a post-independence currency union.
With little more than a month until the Sept. 18 vote,
the pro-independence campaign has the support of 32 percent of
voters compared with the No campaign’s 45 percent, a monthly TNS
poll of 1,003 voters showed on August 13.
Nationalist leader Alex Salmond has said an independent state would walk away from its share of U.K. debt unless it’s allowed into a currency union. Only residents in Scotland are allowed to vote in the referendum.
“It is striking how tough people in England are on
Scotland,” Charlie Jeffery, a professor of politics at
Edinburgh University, said in an e-mailed statement.
“There appears to be little appetite for the Scottish government’s vision of independence amid continuing partnership with the rest of the U.K. on the pound, Europe and NATO. If anything the message appears to be: ‘vote Yes by all means, but if you do, you’re on your own.’”
The survey found 59 percent of English respondents opposed to Scottish independence, with 19 percent in favor. Thirty-six percent thought the rump U.K. should not support a Scottish bid to join organizations such as the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the event of independence.
YouGov questioned 3,695 adults in England via the Internet from April 11 to April 22 for the survey. The margin of error wasn’t specified.
