12:34

Two new opinion polls offer contradictory evidence about the support for Scottish independence, with a YouGov survey for the Times claiming the no vote is at its highest for two and a half years.

YouGov reports that 57% of Scottish voters wanted to stay in the UK against 43% who favoured independence, excluding don’t knows, while only 35% of voters supported a formal Scottish government independence campaign before Brexit.

A rival poll by Survation for the Daily Mail suggests that result is an outlier. It puts the yes vote at 47%, excluding don’t knows – a figure far more consistent with the latest polls from Ipsos Mori and BMG putting support for independence at 49% and 48% respectively.

The latest annual Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, seen as the most authoritative study of voter sentiment, found support for independence at 46% late last year – the highest level it had recorded since 1999.

However, the new Survation poll also confirms widespread voter scepticism about the case for staging a referendum before Brexit, with 18% of Scottish National party voters saying they would vote no to independence if the referendum were held tomorrow.

It said 31% of all voters agreed that Theresa May, the prime minister, should give Holyrood the power to stage it before Brexit, but 36% said that power should be refused and 18% said it should only be held after the UK leaves the EU.

Amongst yes voters, 22% opposed a referendum before Brexit and 25% said the power to hold the referendum should be granted only if it happened after Brexit.