SUPPORT for independence has dipped below the 45 per cent seen in the 2014 referendum, despite SNP hopes that an outcry over Brexit would boost the case for leaving the UK.

A new YouGov poll put support for separation at 44 per cent and support for the Union on 56 per cent, after don’t knows were removed.

The finding emerged on the final day of the SNP’s national conversation on independence, which was supposed to contact gauge the opinion of 2m Scots on the constitution.

The YouGov survey found 82 per cent of people said they hadn't been contacted for the exercise.

The day after the vote for Brexit in June, the First Minister said the result had made a second independence referendum “highly likely”, and this week in Dublin she said Brexit may well be the factor which delivers a Yes vote second time round.

However the YouGov poll found little public appetite for another plebiscite.

Only 31 per cent of people wanted the Scottish Government to campaign for independence in the next two years, with 56 per cent opposed, and 13 per cent undecided.

Only 54 per cent of those who voted SNP in the 2015 election backed a campaign by 2018.

There was also little belief in the SNP notion that Scotland might stay in the EU after Brexit was a realistic one.

Only 22 per cent of people thought this would “probably be possible”, while 62 per cent thought it would “probably not be possible”, with 16 per cent undecided.

Even among those who voted SNP last year, 55 per cent thought the idea unrealistic.

The poll showed a slip in electoral support for the SNP and a boost for the Scottish Tories.

Support for the SNP was down from 52 to 48 per cent on the constituency vote at Holyrood since August, and down from 45 to 39 per cent on the regional vote.

Meanwhile support for the Tories was up from 21 per cent on both votes in August to 25 per cent on the constituency and 24 per cent on the regional vote.

Ruth Davidson also extended her approval rating to double that of Nicola Sturgeon.

The Scottish Tory leader’s net approval was +25 points, up from +21 since August, while the First minister’s had fallen from +20 to +11.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale’s approval rating also fell, from -17 to -21, while support for her party dropped from 16 to 15 and from 15 to 14 on the constituency and regional votes.

John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, said the findings suggested the SNP strategy of linking EU membership to independence had backfired.

“Instead of boosting support for independence, the SNP’s decision to link the possibility of a second independence referendum to the EU has eroded support for leaving the Union.

“If anyone has profited from the developments of recent months it would appear to be Ruth Davidson’s arch-unionist Conservative party.”

Ms Davidson said: “The SNP has spent the last 12 weeks promoting a so-called national survey to convince the people of Scotland of the need for a second referendum.

“Today, it got its answer – fewer than than one in three want another referendum, the lowest since the 2014 vote.

“My message to Nicola Sturgeon is clear – we voted on independence two years ago. Move on. Stop disrespecting the majority of the people of Scotland by continuing to push your divisive and unwanted second referendum, and get on with the job you were elected to do.”

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “This poll is further evidence that a growing number of Scots are opposed to the SNP’s latest attempt to divide our country.

“The EU referendum result should not be used as a false mandate for another referendum on Scottish independence.

“No one is any doubt about the scale of the challenge the Scottish Labour party faces, but these problems did not appear overnight and will not be fixed overnight.”

Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said: “Fewer people now support independence and even more are fed up with the SNP going on and on about it. Liberal Democrats are for the UK and the EU and will do everything we can to keep us in both.

"Nicola Sturgeon must now throw her weight our proposal for  Brexit deal referendum."

An SNP spokesman said: “This poll shows continued strong support for the SNP, with nearly 50 per cent of backing in an election for Scottish parliament constituencies, nine years into government. That is a very powerful endorsement of the party’s record in office and of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.”

YouGov polled 1,134 people for the Times from November 24-29.