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Newsnight poll suggests support for English parliament - but no strong desire for independence among nations
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The English would like a parliament of their own, and the Scottish and the
Welsh also think they should. That is one of the conclusions suggested by a
91Èȱ¬/ORB opinion poll conducted for 91Èȱ¬ Two Newsnight, 91Èȱ¬ Scotland and 91Èȱ¬
Wales.
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The opinion poll comes more than eight years after the establishment of a Scottish Parliament and a
Welsh Assembly.
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When asked if an English parliament should now be established,
61% of those in England, 51% of those in Scotland and 48% of those in Wales
thought it should.
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But in the poll - conducted to coincide with the 300th anniversary of
the Act of Union being accepted by the Scottish on 16 January - there was no
majority support in any of the nations of Great Britain for independence.
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When asked if the Union should break up - with Scotland and Wales each
gaining their independence - only 16% of the English, and 32% of Scots
thought that it should.
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Seventy-three per cent of the English and 56% of the Scots wanted things
in the Union to stay as they are.
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Only 19% of Welsh people asked wanted to see the Union end and Wales become a
separate country as compared to 69% who wanted things to continue as they
are.
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Putting aside their own opinions, people's views were mixed about how long
the Union would actually last.
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Nearly one in five people in Scotland (17%) and
Wales (20%) thought that the Union would continue for another 300 years and
nearly one in four (23%) of those in England thought it would continue for that
length of time.
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But half of all those asked thought the Union had less than a
century to go (England 49%, Scotland 51%, Wales 50%).
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There was a real divide about whether countries would lose out or benefit
financially if the Union were to end.
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The English were split with nearly a
quarter (24%) thinking they would lose out and another quarter (25%) thinking
they would benefit; 44% thought it would make no difference.
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More people in Scotland thought they would lose out (37%) than benefit (31%)
and many more in Wales thought they would do badly from the deal with 49%
thinking they would lose out against 14% who thought they might gain.
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Culturally the English thought the end of the Union would make no difference
to them (76%) with only one in ten (11%) believing it would enhance English
culture.
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Nearly a quarter of the Scottish saw a cultural upside (25%) but in
Wales it was nearly a third (33%) who thought cutting the ties with Union
would enhance culture in the principality.
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Jeremy Paxman and Kirsty Wark will host a Newsnight debate on an Act of
Disunion on 91Èȱ¬ Two at 10.30pm today (Tuesday 16 January).
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The debate will be held in
the historic Parliament Hall in Edinburgh where, 300 years ago to the day, the
Scottish Parliament voted to sign up to the Act of Union.
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Leading figures
from politics, the arts, academia and the media will be part of the debate
which will last the whole programme, a collaboration between Newsnight and
Newsnight Scotland.
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The opinion poll was conducted by ORB (Opinion Research Business).
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Notes to Editors
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The poll was a telephone survey conducted among: 883 adults in
England, 543 in Scotland and 527 in Wales.
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Interviews were conducted from 5 to 8 January 2007.
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Data was weighted according to the age, gender and geographic profile
of each country.
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Detailed results are available in a PDF document via a link on the right-hand side of this page.
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JG2
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