IT has been revealed that the Scottish Government conducted no polling on topics around independence, the Union, devolution or indyref2 throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
A freedom of information request from The Scotsman confirmed that no polling research had been conducted by Holyrood ministers on constitutional issues since March 2020.
It is in contrast to the Tory government at Westminster where it was shown in court documents that Covid contracts awarded to Public First worth £560,000 were used to examine attitudes towards the Union.
READ MORE: Michael Gove denies using Covid funds for polling on the Union
Officials at Holyrood instead carried out weekly polling on public trust towards Nicola Sturgeon and her government's handling of the pandemic compared to Boris Johnson's.
The research also covered opinions on pandemic restrictions, measures already in place as well as those that were planned and whether the public backed them.
READ MORE: Michael Gove has bizarre excuse for rejecting inquiry into Covid cash scandal
Senior Tory minister Michael Gove who is in charge of Union policy for the UK Government denied that the emergency Covid contracts awarded to Public First were used for party political polling.
The Cabinet Office minister said last week that the UK Government's "concentration has been on making sure that we can get an effective public health message and that was the aim behind the investment".
He added: “The contract was actually assigned by others and not by me, and the contract was assigned in order to ensure that the UK Government was in a position to be able to make sure that vital messages – hands, face, space, protecting the NHS – were communicated effectively to the public because clear messaging is an important part of public health overall.”
The SNP have called for a full public inquiry into the misuse of public money and the use of the emergency Covid contracts for polling on "attitudes to the UK Union".
Earlier today, SNP MP Stewart Hosie (below) accused Gove of using taxpayer cash as a "bottomless Unionist slush fund" during Cabinet Office questions in the House of Commons.
READ MORE: WATCH: Ian Blackford told off by Speaker for exposing Boris Johnson's lies
Gove said that such a fund "sounds like a great thing, but unfortunately it does no exist".
After the debate, Hosie said it is time for Gove to "come clean and be held to account for his actions, and for a full public inquiry to be conducted".
He added: “It is shameful that so much public money has been handed to Tory friends and donors throughout this pandemic – but now we know that some of that money was spent on Tory constitutional campaigning.
“As a result, there must now be full transparency on what taxpayers’ money has been spent on and, more importantly, why this was ever allowed to happen.”
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