ONE in three people in Wales would welcome an independence referendum in the next year, new polling shows.

But the same percentage – 34 per cent - said they would oppose the referendum, suggesting a perfect three-way split in opinion towards Wales having its own independence referendum.

The three largest parties in the Senedd follow the same lines, with Plaid Cymru advocating independence, the Welsh Conservatives staunchly unionist, and Welsh Labour championing the current settlement, devolution, which represents something of a halfway house.

Independence campaign group YesCymru has hailed the poll as “stunning” evidence that people in Wales are losing faith in Westminster politics.

“The people of Wales have had enough of politicians in Westminster who aren’t doing anything to support them. With the onset of proper discussions in homes and communities across Wales, our citizens are almost invariably coming to the same conclusions,” said YesCymru board member Geraint Thomas.

“A future tethered to Westminster has and will always be to the detriment of the people of Wales.”

South Wales Argus: Wales flags and Union Jacks over Newport city centreWales flags and Union Jacks over Newport city centre (Image: Sam Portillo)

But the debate is so fierce that one Welsh Conservative MS has accused YesCymru activists of “littering Welsh towns and villages with their propaganda” and Welsh Labour of being “a clear and present danger to the future of the UK”.

Darren Millar, MS for Clwyd West and Shadow Constitution Minister, said: “The Labour Party in Wales has been flirting with the independence movement for some time and are a clear and present danger to the future of the UK.

“Yet, in spite of the efforts that Welsh Labour Ministers are making to undermine the Union, and YesCymru’s activists littering towns and villages with their propaganda, poll after poll continues to show that a clear majority of people in Wales continue to favour being part of the United Kingdom,” Mr Millar said.

South Wales Argus: Darren Millar says the Welsh Labour government presents a clear and present danger to the unionDarren Millar says the Welsh Labour government presents a clear and present danger to the union (Image: Senedd)

“I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

Pollster Redfield & Winton Strategies asked 1,068 Welsh voters on August 13 and 14: “To what extent, if at all, would you support or oppose a referendum on Welsh independence being held in the next year?”