EDINBURGH, November 1 (RIA Novosti) — A new opinion poll for The Times newspaper has found a majority of Scottish voters would back independence if a referendum was held tomorrow, just six weeks after Scots rejected the proposal.
According to the new poll conducted by the polling company YouGov on behalf of The Times, 52 percent of Scotland now favors independence, compared to 48 percent of people who favor remaining part of the United Kingdom.
Another polling company, Ipsos-MORI, also found that two-thirds of Scots want another referendum on independence within the next ten years, something which the outgoing First Minister of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) Alex Salmond previously said would not take place for "at least a generation".
The SNP declined to comment specifically on either the rise in support for independence or the findings showing a clear majority of Scots want another independence referendum within ten years.
But in a speech made Wednesday Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities at the Scottish Parliament, told a select audience in Edinburgh that "independence is the best future for our country."
"So our task now is as it has always been — to persuade a majority of our fellow citizens in a referendum that independence is the best future for our country. Whether we succeed — I believe we will — and when, will depend on many different factors, events and circumstances," Sturgeon said.
The Scottish independence referendum took place on September 18. It yielded a "No" vote, with 55.3 percent of Scotland's population having voted for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom, compared with 44.7 percent of people who voted for independence.
