Surge in support for Scotland independence from UK: Poll

Nearly 60 percent of the Scottish people support independence from the United Kingdom after it voted to leave the European Union, according to a new poll.

The Sunday Post said 59 percent of those surveyed backed independence from the UK, marking a sharp rise since the 2014 referendum, when 45 percent of Scots voted in favor of independence.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Saturday that a second independence referendum was “highly likely.”

Sturgeon expressed her “deep disappointment” at Britain’s decision to leave the 28-member bloc and said, “We are determined to act decisively.”

She said the government was working to present legislation to allow the referendum to break away from the UK.

Many Scots voted to stay in the UK in 2014 because of fears that breaking away might leave them outside the EU.

Scotland voted 62 to 38 percent to remain in the bloc in Thursday’s referendum, but British voters as a whole voted 52 to 48 percent to leave.

The decision sent shockwaves around the world and prompted David Cameron to announce his resignation as prime minister.

The vote, known as Brexit, wiped $2.1 trillion from global equity markets Friday as traders feared a new potential threat to the global economy.

European leaders, who had urged the UK to remain in the EU, are now pressing it to set out a quick timetable for its exit from the bloc, to avoid a long period of “uncertainty.”

More than 2.5 million people have signed a petition calling for a second referendum.

The online petition generated so much traffic that Parliament’s website temporarily crashed on Saturday.

In Northern Ireland, where 56 percent of people voted to remain in the EU, there is speculation about the prospect of a vote to unite with the neighboring EU member, the Republic of Ireland.