Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Further evidence that Scotland is more pro-European than the rest of the UK

The supplementary questions in today's YouGov poll add to the substantial body of evidence that Scotland is more enthusiastic about membership of the European Union than the rest of the UK...

Do you think Britain would be better or worse off economically if we left the European Union, or would it make no difference?

Better off -

London 32%
South excluding London 36%
Wales and English Midlands 36%
North of England 37%
Scotland 28%

Worse off -

London 40%
South excluding London 32%
Wales and English Midlands 32%
North of England 30%
Scotland 43%

Do you think Britain would have more or less influence in the world if we left the European Union, or would it make no difference?

More influence -

London 14%
South excluding London 13%
Wales and English Midlands 12%
North of England 15%
Scotland 7%

Less influence -

London 41%
South excluding London 38%
Wales and English Midlands 36%
North of England 38%
Scotland 47%


The main point about these figures is that they reinforce the danger that Scotland could be forced out of the EU against its will if it remains part of the UK. The scenario is straightforward - the rest of the UK votes Tory, we vote against the Tories = we all get the Tories, who then hold an in/out referendum on membership of the EU. The rest of the UK votes to leave the EU, we vote to stay in = we all leave.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting that they didn't ask NI and put Wales in with the Midland of England.

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  2. Hi Tris, that's standard for YouGov. Strangely they did have one non-voting intention poll a few days ago (can't remember what the subject was) that had a separate Welsh subsample, but that seems to have been a one-off. None of the pollsters usually bother with a Northern Ireland sample because the "main" parties (ie. London parties) either don't stand there, or - in the case of the Tories - only have fringe status.

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