TODAY is a day of two opinion polls. There are opinion polls that make an honest attempt to gauge public opinion on a particular topic or which are genuinely trying to discern the true level of public support for a policy or a political party.
Most opinion polls are of this sort. While they may not always be entirely accurate, they are still trying to discover the real-life state of play. Then there are opinion polls that have the intention of generating press headlines that help to push a particular narrative or point of view.
The regular opinion polling conducted by the anti-independence organisation Scotland in Union is of this second sort. Scotland in Union persists uses in its polling a non-standard question in order to artificially inflate the percentage of respondents who can be claimed to be opposed to Scottish independence. That is invariably how the anti-independence campaign group's polls are reported in the media, however, that's not exactly what these polls ask.
READ MORE: Questions around pro-Union group poll claiming majority oppose early indyref2
The second poll to be published today, carried out by Opinium for Sky News, did ask the standard question explicitly asking about support for independence. This poll showed that a narrow majority in Scotland, 51% once don't knows are excluded, back independence.
It also showed that if there was a Westminster or a Holyrood election tomorrow, 51% would vote SNP, a 4% increase in the party's Westminster vote and a 3% increase in its Holyrood constituency vote. Meanwhile the Scottish Conservatives, Labour, and the Lib Dems are all down. If you are an independence supporter things are looking up.
This piece is an excerpt from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
To receive our full newsletter including the rest of this analysis straight to your email inbox, click here and tick the box for the REAL Scottish Politics.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here