TRUST in the UK government has fallen to a seven year low in Scotland, according to the most recent Scottish Social Attitudes survey.

The comprehensive poll, with interviews conducted between July 2017 and February 2018, revealed that just 20% of Scots trusted Whitehall to work in Scotland’s best interests, down from 25% in the previous year.

Meanwhile, 61% of Scots said they would trust the Scottish Government to work in Scotland’s best interests, though that too was down five points on 2016.

The majority of under 65s put their trust in the Scottish Government, with 77% of 16-24s, 70% of 25-39 year olds and 60% of 40-64s all saying they thought the administration in Edinburgh was working for the country’s best interests.

That was true of just 46% of the over 65s.

But even those who identified as “more British than Scottish” trusted the Scottish government more than they trusted the UK government.

The Scottish Social Attitudes survey has been conducted by the independent research organisation ScotCen annually every year since since 1999.

When interviewees were asked who has the most influence over the way Scotland is run, 43% of people said the Scottish Government, 41% said the UK Government, and 7% said the European Union.

During the first decade of devolution, considerably more people said that the UK Government had most influence, but the gap has narrowed since then.

When asked who ought to have more influence over the way Scotland is run, 74% of people said that the Scottish Government should have more influence. The percentage who said the UK Government should have more influence over the way Scotland is run was just 15%.

Perhaps indicating some resentment at Brexit being thrust on Scotland, despite voters north of the border overwhelmingly rejecting a leave vote, the proportion of people who said that having a Scottish Parliament is giving Scotland a stronger voice in the UK was 64%, down from 71% the year before.

Scottish Government finance minister Derek Mackay said: “Not only do the figures vindicate the decisive, fair action taken by the Scottish Government, they also demonstrate public support for the Scottish Government having the greatest influence over how Scotland is run.

“It is essential that the UK Government reflects this strength of public feeling and responds to our demands on fairer immigration policies, reversing austerity and halting the Brexit power grab on devolved responsibilities.”

The poll also revealed that satisfaction with the way the NHS runs nowadays had decreased from 60% in 2016 to 55% in 2017. The proportion of people who said that the standards in the NHS had fallen over the past year increased from 37% in 2016 to 49% in 2017. Of those who thought standards had fallen, 46% attributed this to UK Government policy, 27% attributed this to Scottish Government policy.

Scottish Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said the poll was proof that the public’s “faith in both the Tory and SNP governments is deteriorating.”

She added: “It is clear people are increasingly tired of austerity, cuts to services and Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon’s politics of division.”