A NEW survey which asked voters in Britain if there should be a referendum on Irish unity found that a majority would be in favour of a border poll.
A BMG Survey for The Independent asked a total of 1,504 people in England, Scotland and Wales if they would support an Irish reunification referendum, and over half of the respondents said they would.
A total of 52% of people polled believed an Irish border poll should take place after Brexit, with 19% saying they were against the idea.
Removing the 29% of people who chose the “don’t know” option, the results are 73% in favour and 27% against.
The hypothetical poll would allow voters in Northern Ireland to decide whether the country would remain a part of the UK or re-join Ireland to make a 32 county Republic.
The topic of Irish reunification has gained traction in recent years, with uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the possibility of a hard border in Ireland among the reasons a border poll may now be inevitable.
Those surveyed were also asked about their feelings towards a second referendum on Scottish independence and found widespread support for the idea.
It found that 45% of people in England, Scotland and Wales believed a second independence referendum should take place, compared with 30% of people against it.
In this case, removing the “don’t know” votes resulted in 60% in favour and 40% against.
Leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster, Ian Blackford, commented on the results of the poll, saying it proves that “Scotland should have the choice to decide its own future”, and warned “It would be unacceptable for any government in Westminster to block Scotland’s democratic right to choose”.
However the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie told the Herald on Sunday that his party was very much against anther independence referendum, saying “we would vote against it at every single opportunity”.
The original 2014 Scottish independence referendum resulted in 55% of people voting against independence.
However, some have argued that many Scottish voters chose to remain a part of the UK in order to remain a part of the EU, and the vast changes the UK has undergone since the original vote means a second referendum would have an entirely different result.
A series of polls by Lord Ashcroft last week revealed that a majority of people in Northern Ireland support Irish unity.
