Majority of Scots would vote to rejoin EU again if referendum is held

Pro-EU campaigners take part in a 'Missing EU Already' rally outside the Scottish Parliament. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA. - Credit: PA

A majority of Scots would vote to rejoin the EU in a future referendum, a new poll has revealed.

The polling conducted by Survation for the new eu+me campaign group found 62% of Scots would want to rejoin the EU and the other 38% would opt to stay out of the EU, excluding those who answered ‘don’t know’.

A majority of Scots (65%) polled also regret the Brexit result.


Have your say
Send your letters for publication to The New European by emailing letters@theneweuropean.co.uk and pick up an edition each Thursday for more comment and analysis. Find your nearest stockist here or subscribe to a print or digital edition for just £13. You can also join our readers' Facebook group to keep the discussion and debate going with thousands of fellow pro-Europeans.

More than a third (35.7%) of the 1,127 who were surveyed also believe the economic impact of coronavirus would have been reduced if the UK remained in the EU.

The new eu+me group is calling for a close relationship between Scotland and the EU after Brexit.

It has been established by former North East Fife SNP MP Stephen Gethins and the campaign’s director is the SNP’s one-time head of communications, Fergus Mutch

Mutch, who unsuccessfully stood against Conservative MP Andrew Bowie in the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency in December’s general election, said the campaign will be a ‘grassroots-led force for positive change’ at a crucial moment in Scotland’s relationship with Europe.

He said: ‘There’s a very real risk that in just over five months time we crash out of the transition period with no deal and irreparably damage the relationships that have maintained peace and prosperity across Europe for over 60 years.

‘Never has an energetic campaign been more badly needed to protect our status and to help shape our future as Europeans.’

Mutch said the campaign aims to ‘influence what comes next’ and was not aligned to any political party.

‘The coming months could not be more crucial to secure the rights we’ve enjoyed for most of our lifetimes to live, work, travel, study and thrive as part of Europe’, Mutch said.

On the polling he added: ‘Despite the turbulence of the past four years, governments have failed to settle the question of Brexit UK-wide through leadership and sensible compromise.

‘High-risk brinkmanship remains the negotiating approach. It’s a strategy doomed to fail.

‘People view Europe as key to our shared prosperity, and the devastating impact of a global pandemic has reinforced the fact that our recovery depends on cooperation.’