NEW polling reveals that voters in England say Scotland does have a right to a fresh independence referendum.

Research by Savanta ComRes shows 39% of voters across the UK believe Scots have the right to have their say on the constitution if they seek to do so.

That compares with 35% who disagree.

The polling was commissioned by the Derbyshire-based left-wing news site Left Foot Forward.

It's revealed on the day Nicola Sturgeon is expected to be confirmed as First Minister in a parliament with a pro-independence majority of 72. That includes both the SNP and Scottish Greens.

In a separate question, 38% of voters in England believe Sturgeon has the right to launch another referendum, while 34% who do not.

Even voters in Tory-dominated south-east England (40%) back allowing another independence vote, though by a slim margin (38% against).

In Scotland, 46% of voters in Scotland were found to back the right to another vote, compared to 32% against.

The UK-wide results also show one in four Conservative voters (27%) say indyref2 should go ahead if Scots want it, though a majority oppose this (52%).

Left Foot Forward says findings "will be seen as a major boost for the SNP".

It states: "While Sturgeon has ruled out an illegal ‘wildcat’ referendum, the views of voters in England could prove significant in determining whether Westminster can continue to deny another indy vote.

"Piling pressure on Keir Starmer and Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar is the fact that a majority – 51% – of Labour voters across Britain back the right to another independence vote, to just 21% against."

READ MORE: Most Scots regions backed independence in Holyrood list vote

Across the UK, 45-54-year-olds were found to be most in favour of letting Scotland push ahead with another indy vote, with 45% in favour.
Around one quarter of voters (27%) do not have an opinion on the matter. 

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie commented: "This poll reveals that the majority of people across these islands support democracy in the face of attempts to curtail it by the UK Government.

"This is especially true of Labour voters, who must be extremely frustrated with the obfuscation shown by Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar on this. It is shocking that Labour would ignore the wishes of its own members and the Scottish Trades Union Congress to deny Scots a say over our future."

And SNP depute leader Keith Brown said: "This poll shows that people across the UK – including almost 60 per cent of those expressing a view in Scotland – believe that people in Scotland have the democratic right to choose our own future in a post-pandemic referendum. 
 
“The Holyrood election delivered a cast-iron democratic mandate for an independence referendum. And Boris Johnson’s undemocratic attempts to ignore that free and fair election result and deny the people of Scotland the right to choose a better future as an equal, independent country are completely unsustainable and will not hold.
 
"This poll also piles more pressure on Labour leader Keir Starmer's muddled position, and puts him at odds with his own party members who overwhelmingly support Scotland's future being in Scotland's hands, not Boris Johnson's.
 
"Westminster has shown it is incapable of delivering the change that is required for Scotland's recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. If the UK remains a democracy, then people in Scotland must have the right to decide our own future, so we can choose a better path than Boris Johnson's shambolic Tory Government and continue to build a fairer country."