Only third of Scots favour independence

Scotland has for years been a region where Labour support dominated. The recent unpopular acts of the UK government are likely to be the reason for the success of the Scottish National Party - in control in the Scottish Parliament, likely to do well in the Glasgow East by-election, doing well in the polls.

It seems strange that a party advocating a split with the rest of the UK can be so successful in Scotland, but lacking in support for its major aim. This says to me that there has been a missed opportunity for the other opposition parties - the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats haven't been strong enough to match SNP, despite the fact that most Scots don't want independence.

Some more polling data demonstrating Scots support for the union:

Fifty five per cent are in favour of keeping the Queen as head of state and 29 per cent against. In addition, a majority of Scots want to keep the pound (73 per cent) rather than the euro.

They also want to continue contributing troops to Britain's armed forces (66 per cent), rather than having their own separate armed forces (23 per cent).

And they want UK immigration laws to apply north of the border and want Scotland's athletes - such as the Wimbledon quarter-finalist Andy Murray - to compete for Britain in the Olympics.