A week after Prime Minister David Cameron blundered into Scotland’s constitutional debate, the SNP has welcomed the latest ICM poll showing support for independence at 40%.

An ICM survey for The Sunday Telegraph shows 40% support for independence with 43% opposed – representing a 6.5% swing to independence since the last poll by ICM and requiring a swing of only 1.5% to make independence the leading option. Support for the outdated union has fallen by 11%.

SNP Westminster leader and referendum campaign director Angus Robertson MP said:

“This is an excellent poll which, as the debate over Scotland’s constitutional future gathers pace, shows support for independence moving ahead.

“It is clear that David Cameron’s bungling has backfired with support for the outdated union falling as people hear about the opportunities offered by independence.

“Every step the anti-independence parties have taken since Cameron's chaotic intervention last week has done nothing but boost support for independence and this scale of support at this stage suggests we can be confident of achieving a Yes vote for independence in the referendum in autumn 2014.

“And it is not just the opinion polls showing increased support for independence - over the last week we have been overwhelmed with the numbers of people going online to sign up to join the SNP – almost 800 over the last week.

“Nobody cares more about Scotland's success than the people who live here. That's why they've responded in such huge numbers as they believe the decisions over our country's future should be taken by people in Scotland.”