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Fewer than one in four Scots wants Nicola Sturgeon to call a second independence referendum in the autumn, according to a poll for the Daily Record.

The exclusive survey underlines the impossible choice facing the First Minister, who has promised to make her final decision on a fresh vote after the summer, when it is hoped the implications of Brexit will be clearer.

Sturgeon initially said the issue of Scottish independence was “back on the table” the day after the June 2016 Brexit referendum, when 62 per cent of Scots voted to remain in the EU.

But she postponed her plans after the SNP lost 21 seats at last year’s general election, with voter frustration at constitutional division widely seen as one of the reasons for the party’s decline.

And despite the Brexit chaos at a UK level, the Survation poll suggests any move towards IndyRef2 would still leave Sturgeon facing a backlash from the public.

The poll – which was carried out as the UK Government were rocked by Cabinet resignations over Theresa May’s Brexit proposals – shows only 23 per cent of Scots think she should demand a second vote when MSPs return to Holyrood in September.

A further 19 per cent want the First Minister to call for another vote eventually but do not think she should make the move in the autumn.

More worryingly for Sturgeon, 49 per cent of Scots think she should not call a second referendum at all.

The remaining nine per cent are unsure.

However, there is some good news for nationalists. Support for independence is at 47 per cent – two percentage points higher than the 45 per cent who backed Yes in September 2014.

Strathclyde University politics expert Professor Sir John Curtice said the results showed Brexit had still made no real difference to the independence question.

He said: “Although the SNP have had somewhat the better of the argument in the row about the impact of Brexit Withdrawal Bill on the powers of the Scottish Parliament, there’s still no sign of any significant change in the level for support for independence – or much evidence of enthusiasm for an early ballot among the party’s supporters.”

Unionists seized on the poll results, demanding that Sturgeon forgets about holding a second independence referendum.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “The people of Scotland want the Government focused on jobs, schools and hospitals, not another referendum campaign that creates false divisions between working class people when the real divide is between the richest and the rest of us.

“The chaos at the heart of the Tory Government has focused people’s minds on the extreme challenges of leaving a political and economic union, and it is clear that there is not strong support for Nicola Sturgeon to try to force another referendum onto the agenda.”

A Scottish Conservatives spokesman added: “This poll again shows the majority of people do not want a second referendum – and they overwhelmingly don’t want one any time soon.

“Nicola Sturgeon should use this research as motivation to take the threat of another divisive vote off the table.”

(Image: PA)

But Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: “Support for independence remains at historically high levels, with a Yes majority within the margin of error and well within touching distance. And we’re not – yet – in the heat of an independence campaign.

“But as Westminster moves from chaos to utter shambles, proving beyond doubt it is incapable of protecting our interests, the case for independence becomes ever stronger.

“Little wonder that since last year there has been a marked rise in the number of people who back giving the people of Scotland that choice over their future.

“With the full powers of independence, we could make better choices in Scotland’s interests and avoid the damage of a Tory Brexit.”

Sturgeon officially called for a second referendum in March 2017 but May said the UK Government would not allow it. The results of the snap general election that June delayed the SNP’s plans.

Survation interviewed 1002 Scots online between July 5 and 10.