THE SNP and Greens have been accused of having the "wrong priorities" after a new poll found only 12 per cent of Scots think independence is among the most important issues for the Government.

The Survation poll found the NHS is by far the most important issue for voters, followed by Covid recovery, economy and jobs, education, and the climate emergency.

Among those who voted SNP in this year’s Holyrood election, only 26% said independence should be a priority.

And among young people aged 16 to 34, just 10% selected independence and 28% said the climate emergency.

Survation polled 1,040 adults aged 16 or over in Scotland between August 31 and September 1.

They were asked to choose the three most important issues the Scottish Government should prioritise from a list. 

The poll for pro-UK campaign group Scotland in Union also found that only 23% of people in Scotland think holding a referendum on independence within the current parliamentary session should be a priority, when asked to choose from the SNP and Greens’ agreed policy programme.

Elsewhere, it found more than half of voters oppose Nicola Sturgeon’s preferred timetable for a second independence referendum.

READ MORE: Majority of voters oppose Sturgeon's timetable for Indyref2, new poll suggests

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: “This confirms that the new SNP and Green coalition has the wrong priorities.

“People in Scotland are clear that their government should focus on what really matters – the NHS, Covid recovery, jobs and the climate emergency – not an old constitutional debate that divides the country.

“Nicola Sturgeon’s priorities are so skewed she’s not even listening to her own voters.

“It’s time she focused on the job in hand as we recover from the devastating pandemic and face up to the climate disaster.

“As part of the UK we can build a recovery that leaves nobody behind and work together to tackle the climate crisis.”

A spokesman for the Greens said: “The people of Scotland made their priorities clear by electing a new government which sees independence as an important part of a green recovery from the pandemic, one which provides a hopeful alternative to Westminster’s Brexit-driven war on the poor from a government dismantling the NHS and denying the climate emergency.”