THE SNP have accused Gordon Brown of “burying” support for independence in a poll carried out days after the Scottish Parliament elections.
The survey, commissioned by the former prime minister, asked voters to put themselves on a scale of support for independence from zero to 10, with ten being “strongly in favour” while zero being “strongly against”.
It found that some 55% of respondents put themselves on the scale from 6 to 10, while 38% put themselves on – 0 to 4 – suggesting they were veering against. Some 8% of those polled opted for the middle option of 5 suggesting they were undecided.
However, the SNP say this information on the sliding scale and strength of support for independence was only available on page 91 of the polling information, though a spokesperson for Brown said it was the first slide to appear on the briefing of the poll analysis.
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The SNP also say that when Brown commented on the poll he took those who put themselves on the scale from 2 to 8 (40%) as the middle option despite level 8 suggesting support for independence.
Brown then told the media that this 40% formed “middle Scotland” with the group key to deciding the nation’s future in or out of the UK.
While the poll did have a standard “Should Scotland be an independent country?” question which came out at 50%, on a binary presentation it only included 714 responses – leaving a large 28% as “don’t know” or “unlikely to vote”.
SNP depute leader at Westminster Kirsten Oswald MP (above) said: “These results are heartening and show the strength of potential support independence has gathered over the past few years.
“Brexit and a Boris Johnson government have obviously undermined the key promises of the ‘No’ campaign in 2014 – that of Scotland being an equal partner in a UK that was in the EU – and shown them to be empty and undeliverable.
“This is also classic sleight of hand from Gordon Brown. Selectively putting his name to the parts he wants to but disappearing when the full details are revealed.”
The poll was conducted by James Kanagasooriam’s Stack Data, a trading brand of Hanbury Strategy which has conducted unpublished polling for the UK Government and who regularly meets with Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove.
Tommy Sheppard, the SNP MP, has previously battled to get the polling results from the Cabinet Office under freedom of information legislation.
Oswald said: “It’s also interesting that Mr Brown appears to be employing the same pollsters as Boris Johnson’s government. It’s clear independence is the only way to keep Scotland safe from repeated and unwanted Tory governments and the long-term damage of austerity cuts, Brexit and power grabs.”
She added: “Tory cuts imposed by a Westminster government will entrench poverty and inequality, hinder economic growth, and slash household incomes – damaging Scotland’s interests and leaving millions of families worse off.
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“Gordon Brown is now campaigning to allow that situation to continue. The only way to keep Scotland safe is to become an independent country with the full powers needed to build a strong, fair and equal recovery.”
The poll was carried out by Stack Data for Brown’s “Our Scottish Future” think tank with 990 Scots polled between May 7 and 8.
Eddie Barnes of Our Scottish Future said: “A polling question on how people might vote on independence made up the very first slide of our briefing, issued to the media two weeks ago.
“The figures cited by the SNP as being buried are in the second slide of the briefing and can be reached by adding up. We hope our polling and analysis will contribute to a deeper and more meaningful debate about our country’s future over the coming years.”
The SNP won a record fourth term in government on May 6 and have pledged to hold indyref2 by 2024 if the pandemic has passed.
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