More than half of people want Scotland to remain in the UK while just over a quarter believe the country should become independent, a new poll has suggested.
Research carried out for a Sunday newspaper also revealed 49% of people questioned thought their families would be worse off under independence, compared to 23% who believed they would do better.
The poll, by Progressive Scottish Opinion, was carried out shortly after First Minister Alex Salmond launched the Scottish Government’s White Paper for independence.
The document, which runs to almost 670 pages, sets out the SNP administration’s aims for negotiating terms if there is a Yes vote in the referendum, to be held on September 18 next year. The paper also indicates what an SNP government would do if re-elected in 2016, including pledges to improve childcare, scrap the so-called “bedroom tax” and remove Trident nuclear missiles from Scotland.
A total of 1,134 people were questioned for the poll, with 56% saying they did not support independence while 27% wanted Scotland to leave the UK and 17% said they did not know.
Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together campaign, said: “This poll confirms that Scots are choosing devolution in the UK over separation from the UK.”
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “The majority of the Scottish people have seen through the empty prospectus of the White Paper and have recognised it is little more than an uncosted wish-list.”
A spokesman for the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign said people were shifting from being No voters to being undecided.
He said: “We know from our own research, which is far more exploratory and detailed than conventional binary polling, that the more people learn about the benefits of independence, the more likely they are to vote Yes.”
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