People sceptical over long term future of the union

Jon Bright (London, OK): This poll was taken to mark the start of the Telegraph's "Call Yourself British" campaign (did newspapers always do this much campaigning?), of which more later. Apparently 69% of the English want to keep the union together, but only 18% of us believe it will survive indefinitely - over half thinking that it might only last for the next 50 years.

The rest of the wide range of results were unclear at best. Concerns over the West Lothian Question were evident, but opinion divided over the best solution - a majority for change, but the largest single block for the status quo (15% for independence, 20% for an English Parliament, 25% for a Grand Committee esque-solution, 32% for the current system). 63% thought higher public spending in Scotland 'unjustified' - but 61% thought England would neither be better or worse off without Scotland (perhaps they haven't thought about the messy divorce proceedings). The real question - how important all of this is compared to things like crime, the NHS and immigration - went unasked, which is a shame. It's probably still pretty low, but what we really want to track is if interest in these issues is increasing at all, and by what rate. It will be when the Barnett formula becomes a key election battleground that the future of the union will genuinely be at stake.

Hat-tip to Gareth for flagging the poll up.

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