Economy tops Scots’ lists of concerns

The economy is the most important issue to Scottish voters ahead of a referendum for independence later this year, according to a poll published yesterday.

Scots will decide on September 18 whether their nation, which has a population of just over 5m and is a source of North Sea oil, should end its 307-year-old union with England and leave the UK.

The poll, carried out in late January by TNS in more than 1,000 face-to-face interviews, found voters ranked the economy above issues including pensions, welfare, currency, and immigration when asked what mattered most to them.