HALF of people believe the Scottish Government is spending too much public cash on independence and next year's referendum, according to a survey published today.

The YouGov poll, carried out on behalf of the anti-independence Better Together campaign, also found just more than half - 56% - of those questioned said the £800,000 reportedly spent on publicising its White Paper on independence was a bad use of public money.

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the finding should be a "wake-up call" for the SNP.