AN online Scottish independence debate has signalled "a big shift" in people's attitudes, according to National columnist Lesley Riddoch.

The journalist spoke after a debate with Alex Massie, the Scotland editor of right-leaning magazine The Spectator.

Before the debate, 14.7% of participants voted Yes, 59.2% No and 24.62% were undecided. At the end, 40% backed Yes, 57% voted No and 3% were undecided.

Riddoch said after the debate: "Just finished online debate about Scottish independence with Alex Massie organised by Intelligence Squared. Vote before hour's debate - 14.7% Yes, 59.2% No, 24.62% undecided. At the end 40% Yes, 57% No, 3% undecided. Not a win. But a big shift. Where there's life there's hope."

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The discussion covered the SNP's record in government, Brexit, the Scottish economy and timing for indyref2.

The event was hosted by live debate platform Intelligence Squared and chaired by senior Times journalist Manveen Rana.

You can listen to the full debate on Friday when the podcast is released. Listen here.

It comes as it was revealed that support for Scottish independence was the majority position in two polls conducted across February and March, despite reporting to the contrary.

READ MORE: Corrected independence poll error turns 50/50 split into six-point lead for Yes

A report in the Sunday Times said that Yes had lost a twelve-point lead after Nicola Sturgeon gave evidence to the Holyrood Harassment Complaints Committee on March 3.

This report was based on polling conducted by Hanbury Strategy, the firm handed £1 million of taxpayer money in the summer of 2020 to research the future of the Union.

The first poll, which asked 3946 voters between February 12 and March 1, found 56% of Scots supported their country becoming independent, with Don’t Knows excluded.

The second poll, conducted between March 5 and 9 and involving 1500 voters, found 53% of Scots would vote Yes, with Don’t Knows excluded.

However, this second poll was originally misreported as returning a 50/50 split between the Yes and No camps. As such, the 12-point drop headlined in the Sunday Times was actually just half that. 

Polling analyst and blogger James Kelly said the drop of 3%, compared to the originally reported drop of 6%, was the difference between “sign of real changes on the ground [and] random sampling variation”.

The corrected figures were officially released today by the think tank Onward, which said they represented “the most comprehensive survey of attitudes towards the Union since 2014”.

A further 1500 individuals from the rest of the UK were surveyed between February 12 and March 1, with respondents from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland taking part in the survey.

Onward say the figures “reveal that support for Scottish independence is higher than it ever was prior to the 2014 referendum, yet is also volatile and far from inevitable”.

It found Yes retains a 30+ point lead among 18-45 year olds, a 16 point lead among working class voters, and net support in five of Scotland’s eight regions.

The poll compares this to support for separation elsewhere in the United Kingdom: 34% of Welsh voters agree that Wales should be independent and 31% of Northern Irish voters agree that Northern Ireland should be part of a United Ireland.