Scottish vision of independence fails to convince voters - polls

LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The Scottish government's long-awaited blueprint for independence has failed to convince voters that they will be better off ending their 306-year-old union with England, according to three new polls.

The first YouGov (LSE: YOU.L - news) poll since First Minister Alex Salmond released his 670-page vision statement on Nov. 26 showed on Wednesday that the proportion of Scots opposed to independence was 52 percent, unchanged since a similar poll in September.

The poll conducted between Dec. 6 and 9 showed the number backing independence had edged up one percentage point to 33 percent with 13 percent of voters uncertain and two percent planning not to vote at the referendum on Sept. 18 next year.

That echoed an Ipsos (Paris: FR0000073298 - news) -Mori poll on Monday showing the independence prospectus had done little to shift voter intentions, with opposition at 57 percent, down two percentage points from September, and 34 percent support, up three percentage points. The poll found 10 percent of Scots undecided.

The first poll after the launch of the blueprint, by Progressive Scottish Opinion, put the Yes vote unchanged at 27 percent with the No vote at 56 percent, down from 59 percent.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), led by Salmond, had long heralded its independence white paper as a major turning point in the debate that could win over undecided voters after separatists have consistently lagged unionists in polls.

The blueprint promised Scots they could forge their own prosperity by taking charge of their own taxes and spending while keeping the pound, the queen and staying in the European Union (EU).

"But this poll shows there hasn't been a big change since the white paper which the Yes campaign hoped would shift opinion that has been static for the past year or so," said YouGov spokesman Anthony Wells.

"It will be a bit of disappointment for the Yes campaign."

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has insisted that the impact of the Scotland's Future (LSE: FUTR.L - news) document could take some time to filter through to voters.

The economy has emerged as the lynchpin in the debate, with the YouGov poll of 1,074 Scots showing almost half of voters, or 48 percent, believe they would be worse off as an independent country and only 26 percent expecting to gain.

Politics professor John Curtice from Strathclyde University said there appeared to be little prospect of a Yes majority next September unless the nationalists could pursue their economic case more effectively.

"What remains to be seen is whether they have any new, more persuasive economic arguments to be unveiled in the New Year," Curtice said in a commentary on the latest polls.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; editing by Stephen Addison)