Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Poll on Trident and Scottish Independence

Details

Published on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 10:12

A new opinion poll by TNS BMRB for Scottish CND confirms the strength of opposition to the replacement of Trident in Scotland, including among those who have not yet decided how to vote in the independence referendum.

When asked whether they supported or opposed the plan to buy a new nuclear weapon system to replace Trident, 25% were uncommitted but of those who expressed a definite opinion 19% supported and 80% opposed.  Among those who have not decided how to vote in the independence referendum in 2014, 37% were uncommitted on Trident replacement but of those who expressed a definite opinion only 13% supported replacing Trident and 87% were opposed.

Arthur West, Chair of Scottish CND said:

"Trident is emerging as a key issue in the referendum campaign. This poll shows that a clear majority of Scots don't want to waste billions of pounds on new nuclear weapons. It also shows that there is very little support for Trident replacement among those who have not yet decided how to vote in 2014."

The poll asked:

The UK Government plans to replace the existing Trident nuclear weapons with a new system, at a cost of £65 billion. Do you support or oppose the UK Government buying a new nuclear weapon system to replace Trident?

This was cross-referenced against a second question:

There will be a referendum on Scottish independence in the autumn of 2014. If this referendum were to be held tomorrow, how would you vote in response to the question: Should Scotland be an independent country?

The results of the referendum question (as above) were:  Yes 33%  No 52%  Don't Know 15%

Poll data