Our Politics newsletter is now daily. Join thousands of others and get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

SCOTLAND is a country still divided right down the middle on independence , according to a poll published on the day we could have split with the UK.

An exclusive survey for the Daily Record, unveiled hours after the Queen signed the Scotland Bill that formalises new powers for Holyrood , shows the No side would win 52 per cent to 48 per cent if another referendum was held today.

Former first minister Alex Salmond said March 24, 2016, would be Scotland’s “independence day” if there was a Yes vote in September 2014.

And our poll shows the constitutional question is far from settled despite the decisive victory for unionists on that historic day.

More than 90 per cent of Scots have no regrets about the way they voted 18 months ago and just seven per cent of would now vote differently.

Both sides also believe in the “honesty” of their side’s arguments and are suspicious of their opponents.

But perhaps the most significant finding is the majority of people think independence would have cost Scotland money.

A total of 49 per cent of Scots feel we would have been worse off. Only 22 per cent think we’d have been better off.

In troubling news for Nicola Sturgeon, only 44 per cent of Yes voters believe the country would now be better.

This feeling will be cemented by a spate of reports published today showing the collapse in oil revenues would have cost an independent Scotland billions of pounds.

An analysis by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies suggested the extra cost could have been around £2000 per person.

It concluded: “The recent weakening in Scotland’s public finances – driven to a significant extent by falls in oil revenues and associated activity – clearly would have made it more difficult for an independent Scotland to manage its public finances.

“The oil revenue and public finance forecasts produced by the Scottish Government in the run-up to the referendum also look increasingly further away from what is now expected.”

Unionist politicians yesterday seized on the analysis to insist they had been right during the referendum campaign.

Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: “Let’s be clear: it wouldn’t be the rich who’d suffer from the SNP’s con trick on independence.

“It would be the poor who rely on benefits, the sick who rely on our NHS, and the elderly who need our care.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: “Today is not about independence.

“The days of the endless constitutional debate are over. The days of showing how Scotland can be the best again start today.

“It’s time to put the divisions behind us.”

Survation polled 1051 Scots aged over 16 between March 10 and 17.