A NEW poll has indicated that almost half of Scots think Brexit has “gone badly” and has pushed some towards supporting independence.
The research by Savanta ComRes, commissioned the Scotsman, showed a total of 41% of Scots said they thought Brexit has “gone badly”, while just 16% of Scots believe it has gone well.
Meanwhile, 34% said it had neither gone well nor badly.
The survey, which asked 1001 Scottish adults aged 16 and over between April 16 and 20, also suggested Brexit was a factor pushing Scots towards supporting Scottish independence.
READ MORE: Tories 'move indyref2 goalposts' after Ruth Davidson's 2017 comments resurface
Results show that a third of voters state that Brexit has made them “more likely” to vote Yes in a second independence referendum, while 21% said it would push them to vote No.
In addition, 38% of those surveyed said leaving the EU had made them “no more or less likely” to vote Yes or No in an independence referendum.
Meanwhile, a total of 41% of voters who did not vote in the 2014 independence referendum said they were now more likely to vote Yes if another referendum was held, with 14% stating Brexit had made them more likely to vote No. A further 17% said they did not know.
A total of 51% of Scots said they would support the SNP’s proposal for an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU, with 30% stating they would oppose rejoining the EU.
A further 13% said they would neither support nor oppose and 8% said they didn’t know.
READ MORE: SNP's Mairi McAllan dismantles Unionist argument against indyref2
Chris Hopkins, the associate director at Savanta ComRes, told the Scotsman that it is “little surprise” there is support for an independent Scotland rejoining the EU.
He said: “With Brexit being perceived to have gone badly for Scotland, it is perhaps little surprise that almost half would support an independent Scotland re-joining the EU, while almost as many would support it joining EFTA.
"Brexit has also seemed to have some impact on an increased appetite for independence, with a quarter of 2019 Labour voters saying that Brexit has increased their support for independence, while 16 per cent of 2014 No voters say the same.
"These findings tend to imply that if the perception of Brexit improves then perhaps support for independence will wane, and therefore Scottish Conservatives in particular will be keen to stress its successes, while the SNP should focus on its failings in order to continue to drive a wedge between Scots and Westminster through Brexit.”
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