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1 March 2012

Chart of the day: the Welsh question

Just seven per cent of Welsh voters support independence.

By George Eaton

There’s been plenty of discussion about Scotland’s constitutional future recently (a subject we cover regularly on The Staggers) but what about Wales? To coincide with St David’s Day, the BBC and ICM have conducted a poll on Welsh independence and devolution.

As the graph below shows, just 7 per cent of Welsh voters support full independence, a figure that the survey finds would rise to just 12 per cent if Scotland left the UK.

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Graphic by Henrik Pettersson

The most popular option (supported by 36 per cent) is further devolution, such as tax-raising powers. But 29 per cent support the status quo and 22 per cent believe the Welsh Assembly should be abolished.

A separate question on taxation found that 28 per cent thought the assembly should have the power to reduce or increase all taxes, 36 per cent thought it should have some tax-varying powers and 32 per cent thought the assembly should have no powers over taxes.

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