By Jenny Gross And Jason Douglas
LONDON--Three polls on support for Scottish independence
released Saturday suggested that next week's referendum is too
close to call.
A survey released late Saturday by ICM Research for the
Telegraph newspaper put support for independence seven percentage
points ahead of support for staying in the United Kingdom, the
Telegraph reported. But two earlier polls put pro-union support
narrowly in the lead.
The polls come ahead of a Thursday vote on whether Scotland
should end its 307-year union with England. The ICM survey of 705
people said 49% of those surveyed supported independence, 42% were
against and the rest were undecided. On Friday, ICM published a
survey that put unionists narrowly in the lead.
Two other surveys had similar results and put support for the
union ahead. A poll by Opinium for the Observer newspaper showed
support for staying in the union at 47%, while support for
independence was at 43%. The rest were undecided.
Another Saturday survey by pollster Survation for the pro-union
campaign put support for maintaining the union at 47% and support
for independence at 41%, with the rest undecided or unwilling to
reveal their voting intention.
Recent polls have shown an uptick in support among Scots for
independence, but most still put the pro-union camp in the lead. Up
until a month ago, support for staying in Britain had been strongly
in the lead.
Blair McDougall, director of the pro-union Better Together
campaign, said Saturday's polls showed that every single vote
counts.
"There is no room for a protest vote when so much is at stake
with the irreversible decision we will make," Mr. McDougall said in
a statement late Saturday.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and other top politicians this
week stepped up their campaigning, canceling their schedules in
London to travel to Scotland to urge Scots to reject independence.
Mr. Cameron made an emotional plea to voters and told them he cared
deeply about Scotland staying in the U.K. Mr. Cameron is expected
to speak in Scotland on Monday.
Businesses this week also voiced concerns about independence.
Lenders Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Lloyds Banking Group
PLC said they planned to move their legal headquarters to England
in the event of a vote for independence. In addition, executives of
companies such as BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have expressed
concern in recent weeks.
Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party, has
said London politicians bullied these companies into speaking out
against Scottish independence. He and his nationalist supporters
say Scotland would be much better off if it has an independent
government with full control over taxes and economic policy.
Write to Jenny Gross at jenny.gross@wsj.com
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