Support for Scottish independence hits record high as poll finds majority of Scots want breakup of the UK

• Fifty-eight percent of decided Scottish voters in a new poll backed independence from the UK.
• The surge in support for Scottish independence comes during the coronavirus pandemic and with the UK approaching the end of the Brexit transition period.
• Seventy-six percent of Scots in the poll were dissatisfied with Boris Johnson's performance as prime minister, with just 19% happy with him.
• The poll was conducted by Ipsos MORI from October 2 to October 9 by telephone with 1,045 Scots.

A clear majority of Scottish people in a new poll are backing independence from the UK.

Fifty-five percent of all voters in the poll backed independence, with just 39% opposed. Once undecided voters were stripped out, the share of voters backing independence rose to 58%.

The poll, by Ipsos MORI with STV News, was conducted October 2 to October 9 by telephone with a representative sample of 1,045 Scots.

Support for independence was the highest found in any Scottish poll, a result that comes with support for the UK government slumping in Scotland during the coronavirus pandemic and as the Brexit transition period draws to a close; back in 2016, Scots voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining in the European Union.

Seventy-six percent of Scots in the poll said they were dissatisfied with Boris Johnson's performance as UK prime minister, compared with just 19% who said they were happy with him.

This compares with 72% of Scots who said they were satisfied with the job Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was doing.

The governing Scottish National Party is pushing for a second independence referendum in the run-up to next year's Scottish Parliament elections.

"This is a landmark poll which shows that independence has now become the settled will of the majority of people in Scotland," Keith Brown, an SNP member of the Scottish Parliament, said.

"Faced with the chaotic and incompetent government of Boris Johnson and a Westminster system which treats Scotland as an afterthought at best, more and more people are deciding that the best way forward for Scotland is as an equal, independent country.

"And if there is a clear majority for pro-independence, pro-referendum parties in next year's election — as this poll shows there would be by some considerable margin — then no Tory or any UK Government has the right to stand in the way."