Why Scots are put off by the Union, according to Gordon Brown

London and the Westminster political system put Scots off the Union, Gordon Brown has suggested after unveiling a poll showing the vast majority feel no “common bond” with people in the UK capital.

The survey commissioned by Our Scottish Future, a think tank founded by the former Labour prime minister, found fewer than one in five Scots, 17 per cent, said they shared a bond with Londoners compared with 65 per cent who said they did not.

Only 15 per cent of Scots said they shared the same values as people in the capital, compared to 68 per cent who said Londoners “generally have different values”.

In contrast, the poll found Scots felt a strong bond with people in other parts of the UK, particularly Newcastle upon Tyne and Wales.

However, Our Scottish Future said the sense of alienation from London meant that only a third of Scots, 33 per cent, revealed they had common bonds with “English people in general” compared to 52 per cent who said they did not.

Similarly, 29 per cent of Scots agreed they generally shared the same values as the English, whereas 57 per cent said theirs were different.

Mr Brown said: “Our poll shows that Scotland’s problem is with Whitehall, Westminster and a London-centric system. Many parts of the rest of the UK also feel detached from a centralised state.”

The FocalData poll of 1,000 people was conducted ahead of a rally in Edinburgh on Thursday hosted by the think tank.

Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, will join Scottish leaders in a call to decentralise power in Britain.

The poll found that six out of 10 Scots, 59 per cent, said they had a common bond with Geordies compared to 21 per cent who said they did not.

Roughly the same proportion, 58 per cent, said they generally shared the same values as people from Newcastle, with only 19 per cent disagreeing. The remaining 23 per cent said they did not know.

Greater affinity with the Welsh

Scots felt a similarly strong link to the Welsh, according to the poll, with 57 per cent saying they had common bonds and 22 per cent they did not.

The survey also found 46 per cent of Scots said they had common bonds with Liverpudlians compared to 28 per cent who said they did not. For Mancunians, the figures were 37 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

Donald Cameron, the Scottish Tories’ shadow constitution secretary, said: “This poll highlights that – despite the best efforts of the SNP to split up the UK by fostering grievance at every turn – Scots feel a strong affinity and bond with people south of the border.”

However, Keith Brown, the depute leader of the SNP, said: “Scotland is suffering from ever-tightening Westminster control. Independence, by contrast, will mean a partnership of equals with our friends in the rest of the UK.”