A new poll published on Monday showed Scottish voters would back independence and they want another referendum in the next two years.

Asked how they would vote in an independence referendum, 46% of the 1,019 surveyed Scottish voters said they would vote for independence and 43% said they would vote against, according to the poll by Michael Ashcroft. 

Excluding those who said they did not know or would not vote, this amounted to 52% to 48% for an independent Scotland. 

“I found a small majority in favour of a new vote – and the first lead for an independent Scotland for more than two years,” said Ashcroft, a Conservative.

Ashcroft said the poll is the first lead for Scottish independence in a published poll since an Ipsos MORI survey in March 2017, and the biggest lead since a spate of polls in June 2016, shortly after the EU referendum.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted in reponse to the poll: “Majority of people in Scotland now want #Indyref2 and would vote for independence, according to new poll …

“… attempts by the Tories to block Scotland’s right to choose our own future are undemocratic and unsustainable.”