SURVEY: The Scottish Nationalist Party is in a strong position ahead of the May 2021 local elections to hold a second referendum on independence for Scotland
This is a record that should not go unnoticed in the context of the stalled Brexit negotiations. An unprecedented majority of 58% Scots now say they are in favour of the region gaining independence from the UK, according to a poll published on Wednesday by the Ipsos Mori Institute.
The population salutes the work of the Prime Minister
Carried out between 2 and 9 October, this study also shows that the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) of Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon enjoys “very strong” public support, satisfied 72% with its handling of the epidemic coronavirus. The team, therefore, appears to be in a strong position ahead of the local elections in May 2021. The SNP could win many seats in the decentralized Parliament of Holyrood, responsible for making its own decisions in matters of education, health and transport.
‘If the SNP gets a majority in next year’s local elections, our poll suggests there will be significant public pressure for the UK central government to transfer the powers to the Scottish Parliament to hold a second independence referendum From the region, commented Emily Gray, Managing Director of Ipsos Mori Scotland. Such a poll had already been organized in 2014 and the Scots had then voted 55% to stay in the United Kingdom. Since then, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly ruled out allowing Scotland to hold a new referendum, arguing that it is a vote that comes “once in a generation”.
Brexit has changed the game
Nicola Sturgeon promised to set the terms and date of a second referendum before the local elections in May, arguing that Brexit had been a game-changer for Scots. The British province had in fact voted overwhelmingly in 2016 against leaving the European Union, adopted nationally and effective since the end of January. “It is precise because the British government is turning its back on cooperation and solidarity (with Europe) that Scotland needs a new way forward”, pleaded on Thursday the Scottish Prime Minister in an editorial in the German newspaper Die Welt .
She blames Boris Johnson, among other things, for the way the post-Brexit trade negotiations are going. “The Scottish government is convinced that the best future for our country is that of an independent nation within the EU,” she pleaded with German readership.
