article: The Tories are inching ahead of Labour as Nigel Farage starts to peel off Ed Miliband’s supporters. And English voters are so alarmed by the prospect of being ruled by Nicola Sturgeon with Miliband in her pocket that they would prefer to get rid of her – and Scotland – by giving the country independence after all. These are among the remarkable findings of a Survation poll for The Mail on Sunday which illustrates growing fears about the result of the most closely fought Election for decades. A Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday has shown a swing towards the Tories against Miliband's Labour party . Fear of Nicola Sturgeon, pictured, among Labour voters in England is pushing them towards Nigel Farage . David Cameron, pictured, has surged ahead by three points in the polls going into the final stage of the election . The poll suggests David Cameron is pulling ahead of Labour. The Conservatives are on 33 points, followed by Labour on 30, Ukip 18 and the Lib Dems 9 – the third Survation poll in a row to show a lead for the Tories. Intriguingly, there are signs that Labour, and not the Tories, is at risk from Farage’s Ukip. In the past three weeks, Ukip support has risen by five points, with a corresponding four-point fall in backing for Labour. Furthermore, the Tories could benefit from Ukip voters returning to them as a result of the ‘Red Ed and Nicola the Nat’ factor. Asked if they would consider voting Conservative to stop a Miliband-Sturgeon alliance running the country, nearly two in five Ukip supporters said yes, against one in two who said no. The new trends coincide with the huge impact of Scottish Nationalist leader Sturgeon on the campaign since the TV debates, in which she repeatedly squared up to Miliband. The poll offers Cameron hope that more Ukip supporters may be provoked into returning to the Tories as a result of the Sturgeon threat. The dip in Miliband’s popularity appears to reflect the belief that if he relied on Sturgeon to get his legislation approved by Parliament, she would hold the whip hand – even though her party would have only a fraction of the number of Labour MPs. More than half of those polled think Sturgeon would have the upper hand over Miliband, with fewer than three in ten saying the Labour leader would call the shots. The latest poll expressed concern over the possible influence Nicola Sturgeon would have over Ed Miliband . The poll also highlights the growing resentment among English voters at the thought of Scottish Nationalist MPs shaping laws in England on issues such as schools and hospitals, even though English MPs have no such power over these matters in Scotland. A third said that if the Election produced a Miliband-Sturgeon pact to run Britain, they would regard the result as ‘illegitimate’. That bears out the stark warning made by Home Secretary Theresa May today of the danger of a backlash by English voters if the SNP is involved in the Government of the UK. A total of 37 per cent of those polled said they would regard such a result as legitimate. According to the poll, English people may decide they would rather Scotland was given independence than be ruled by Left-wing Scottish Nationalists in harness with Labour. In the event of Miliband and Sturgeon forming some kind of ruling pact, more than 40 per cent said they would prefer Scotland to be independent. A third disagreed. In effect, it could lead to England and Wales declaring independence from Scotland in a reversal of last year’s referendum, when the Scots voted to stay in the UK. The poll leaves no room for doubt where voters think Sturgeon’s heart lies. Nearly three in four say she cares more about Scottish independence than whether the UK economy is doing will. Fewer than one in eight disagree. The survey also contains more evidence of Cameron’s personal ratings lead over Miliband. By a margin of nearly two to one, the public believes Miliband’s claim that the Prime Minister was to blame for the deaths of nearly 1,000 migrants from Libya in the Mediterranean showed that the Labour leader was ‘unfit to be PM’. The survey also indicates the Conservatives are winning the key economic arguments. Voters believe that if the Tories win the General Election on May 7, the economy is more likely to grow over the next five years; taxes and unemployment will be lower; the country will be safer; welfare abuse will be curbed and people will be generally better off. Labour won on two counts: better schools and hospitals and fewer food banks.
highlights: English voters have grave concerns over Nicola Sturgeon's power plan .
  Half believe Ms Sturgeon will have the upper hand over Ed Miliband .
  Ukip has been gaining support from former Labour voters and not Tories .
  The poll shows SNP are more interested in independence that the economy .
  Survation interviewed 1,004 people online on Friday and Saturday.
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