NEARLY half of people in England support English independence, a new poll has found.
A Panelbase survey carried out for Business for Scotland revealed that 49% of people in England support the idea – while the majority of Labour and Tory voters south of the Border say England should be an independent country.
The result comes weeks after a separate poll, organised by YesCymru, which found nearly half of Tory supporters in England want to see the Union dissolved.
As support for Scottish independence increased to 54% in recent weeks, the poll surveyed 1015 English residents with the statement: “England should be an independent country and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be allowed to stand on their own two feet.”
READ MORE: English independence: 49% of Tory voters in England back idea
With “don’t knows” removed support for retaining the Union was just 51%, while 49% supported England becoming an independent nation.
Business for Scotland CEO Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp was stunned by the results which came amid no active campaigning for English independence.
He said: “Let’s be clear, without any serious campaign for English independence and with no political party advocating for such a move, English voters are essentially split right down the middle on whether England should be an independent country. Were such a campaign to be launched we can only assume that support would grow.”
After breaking down responses based on which party respondents voted for at the December General Election, the study found numbers which may come as a “shock” to the Unionist parties.
The poll revealed 52.5% of Conservative voters in England support independence for the country. Recent polling shows Scottish Tory supporters disagree with breaking up the Union by 94%.
There were similar figures for Labour – south of the Border, 51.5% of voters support England becoming independent. This figure was more in line with the numbers in Scotland, where a Business for Scotland poll recently found 43% of Labour voters would support breaking up the Union.
Commenting on differences between the parties, MacIntyre-Kemp said: “I think it might come as quite a shock to Scottish Conservatives that their party members across the Border are just not that bothered about keeping the Union together.
“But the evidence is clear, in England the majority of voters for the two main political parties support English independence and therefore the dissolution of the Union.”
The poll surveyed 1015 English residents between June 29 and July 3.
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