SCOTLAND would vote for independence if a second referendum on the issue were called, according to a sensational poll published today.

The survey, carried out by Tory donor Lord Ashcroft’s polling company, puts the separatist camp in the lead for the first time in over two years.

Forty-six per cent said they would vote Yes to independence, and 43 per cent No. Once those who planned not to vote or said they were unsure were excluded, the pro-independence side was ahead by 52 per cent to 48 per cent.

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said: “This is a phenomenal poll for the independence movement — showing that more and more people think it’s time that Scotland took our own decisions and shaped our own future as a fair, prosperous, outward-looking nation.

“Independence means getting governments people in Scotland vote for and that will act in our interests. That stands in stark contrast to recent experience of UK governments incapable or unwilling to act with those interests in mind.”

Ms Sturgeon said it would be “a democratic outrage” for a Tory government in Westminster not to allow an independence vote to go ahead.

But Labour MSP Neil Findlay said: “Isn’t it depressing that Sturgeon will comment on any poll that suits her, yet is silent on the closure of the Caley works, the Edinburgh sick kids fiasco, the closure of the NASplus autism service, and the clinical waste debacle?”

The poll found that 36 per cent of those who voted Labour in the 2017 Westminster election would vote for independence and the Yes camp now includes 21 per cent of those who voted to stay part of Britain in the 2014 referendum.

Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “It’s time that the people of Scotland were given a choice over their future.

“We didn’t vote for Brexit, we didn’t vote for a Tory government and I’m certain that, given the choice, we wouldn’t have voted for Boris Johnson either. Yet we are being dragged along with the ever-increasing Brexit catastrophe, so it’s no wonder that a majority of Scots now recognise the need for us to make an exit from Boris Johnson’s Brexit Britain.

“It’s time for Scotland to retake our place as an independent European nation.”

Considering the prospect of a general election across Britain, 57 per cent of Scots said they would prefer a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn, with 43 per cent opting for a Conservative one led by Boris Johnson.

The online poll questioned 1,019 adults in Scotland between July 30 and August 2.