EU referendum: Scottish voters in favour of staying in EU but gap narrowing, according to new poll
Scottish voters remain in favour of staying in the European Union – but the gap is narrowing according to a new poll.
The first TNS poll of 2016 found that 44 per cent of voters would opt to remain a member of the EU, while 21 per cent would vote to leave.
In May last year, 49 per cent of voters would have opted to stay in, which fell slightly to 47 per cent in September last year.
Read more: Could a Brexit vote lead to a second Scottish independence referendum?
Meanwhile, 19 per cent of Scots would have voted to leave the EU in May last year, which fell slightly in September to 18 per cent, before rising to 21 per cent now.
However, 29 per cent of voters said they did now know how they would vote.
"With the referendum on membership of the EU looking increasingly likely to take place in 2016, people may be starting to focus on Britain’s membership of the European Union, despite concerns expressed by the First Minister about holding the referendum in June so soon after elections to the devolved assemblies," Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland said.
Read more: Is Labour hurting itself by campaigning to stay in the EU?
"With such a high level of 'Don’t Knows' it’s still all to play for, and there remains a positive view of the European Union in Scotland," he added.
The results are particularly problematic as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already indicated she would be very likely to regard the UK voting to leave the EU, but Scotland voting to remain, as a "trigger" justifying a second referendum.