The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


One paper, two polls, no information

Posted on January 14, 2012 by

The Telegraph on Tuesday: Independence 29%, Union 54%. Gap 25%

The Telegraph on Saturday: Independence 40%, Union 43%. Gap 3%.

This, dear readers, is why you should never take any notice of opinion polls with samples of under 1000 people (in both these cases, around 500 Scottish respondents). Exactly what knowledge has the Telegraph gleaned and passed on to a breathlessly expectant nation from these two surveys, presumably each conducted at substantial cost, just five days apart? That the gap the SNP must bridge by autumn 2014 between support for independence and opposition to it is somewhere between 25% and 3%. Well, that pretty much settles everything, doesn’t it?

(PS Some interesting background on the Saturday poll here.)

Comment - please read this page for comment rules. HTML tags like <i> and <b> are permitted. Use paragraph breaks in long comments. DO NOT SIGN YOUR COMMENTS, either with a name or a slogan. If your comment does not appear immediately, DO NOT REPOST IT. Ignore these rules and I WILL KILL YOU WITH HAMMERS.


  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,868 Posts, 1,234,620 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • James on Learning Insanity: “Really? That’s all you two losers have got? The great Unionist debaters. LOL. Mass debaters maybe.Jan 20, 12:32
    • PC Foster on The Secondhand Amendment: “I wonder how much scope Murrell has to spill the beans on his wife or will he mysteriously die between…Jan 20, 12:24
    • James Cheyne on The Secondhand Amendment: “From political attacks on farmers in France to British farmers to American farmers. From trans cults in Canada to it…Jan 20, 12:15
    • sam on The Secondhand Amendment: “?Foreign Affairs Committee? ?@afet.europarl.europa.eu?· 59m Today at 13.00 European Parliament will discuss territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greenland and the…Jan 20, 12:07
    • James Cheyne on The Secondhand Amendment: “We can only accept it was a America problem if we discount every other Country that is under going the…Jan 20, 11:56
    • sam on The Secondhand Amendment: “Ms Forstater says of Judge Kemp’s error: ““The quote in my section wasn’t found anywhere else, so it was either…Jan 20, 11:47
    • Alf Baird on The Secondhand Amendment: “According to postcolonial theory all we can ever expect in a colonial society is a ‘mediocre meritocracy’ (Memmi), much as…Jan 20, 11:29
    • Alf Baird on The Secondhand Amendment: ““Timing as broadly predicted by many on here!” Yes, colonial ‘justice’ seems predictable, in this instance timed to do maximum…Jan 20, 11:08
    • TURABDIN on The Secondhand Amendment: “EUROPE & THE YANKEE BULLY BOY & HIS BAGGAGE Could the EU be getting its mojo back. Conceived as the…Jan 20, 10:38
    • Hatey McHateface on The Secondhand Amendment: “Jane Russell, eh? Whew, what a scorcher! But I thought she was deid. How depressing that while still alive she’s…Jan 20, 10:13
    • sam on The Secondhand Amendment: “Is it possible that Ms Russell is the “judicial colleague” who exchanged correspondence with Judge Kemp? On the face of…Jan 20, 10:12
    • James Cheyne on The Secondhand Amendment: “In Lorna’ version of the treaty of union case being real you will find only two biological sexes entered into…Jan 20, 10:03
    • agentx on The Secondhand Amendment: ““The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) confirmed that a preliminary hearing on Murrell’s case is scheduled to take…Jan 20, 09:58
    • sam on The Secondhand Amendment: “In Sandie Peggie’s case against NHS Fife, the representation for NHS Fife was provided by KC, Jane Russell. Ms Russell…Jan 20, 09:16
    • Hatey McHateface on The Secondhand Amendment: ““should be allowed into a female only space, such as a public toilet, on a case by case basis” Sure.…Jan 20, 08:56
    • Hatey McHateface on The Secondhand Amendment: ““This implies that it is not inherently unlawful for a trans female to be given permission to use a female…Jan 20, 08:47
    • sam on The Secondhand Amendment: “According to Naomi Cunningham, who represented Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife it is UK government lawyers who are saying that,…Jan 20, 08:38
    • Hatey McHateface on Learning Insanity: “If I was you, YL, I’d be taking steps. There can be little doubt “the Donald” will be coming for…Jan 20, 08:29
    • sam on The Secondhand Amendment: “Criticism from different sources of the tribunal findings in the Peggie case as reported in Personnel Today. “Dr Foran pointed…Jan 20, 08:25
    • sam on The Secondhand Amendment: “From the latest blog post at Legal Feeminist where Naomi Cunningham blogs. “The second question arises from the government’s arguments…Jan 20, 08:08
    • Young Lochinvar on The Secondhand Amendment: “Timing as broadly predicted by many on here! They can’t even be subtle about their machinations..Jan 20, 00:51
    • Michael on The Secondhand Amendment: “Or was it John Doe who was googling on behalf of the Judge?Jan 20, 00:44
    • Young Lochinvar on Learning Insanity: “H McH No other incorrect accusations to throw about? Confused as you’ve been asking the wrong questions? You are so…Jan 20, 00:39
    • Hatey McHateface on The Secondhand Amendment: “@Marie I think there is something odd when people living in a country that is so desperate for immigrants that…Jan 19, 22:38
    • Marie on The Secondhand Amendment: “If you knew anything about how independence-minded Scots felt about their country you would know that a long-standing major concern…Jan 19, 21:54
    • holymacmoses on The Secondhand Amendment: “It’s quite remarkable that Judge Walker (via Ms Muir) thinks that it’s OK to farm out work on an enquiry…Jan 19, 21:24
    • Scot Finlayson on The Secondhand Amendment: “Man in wig looking out for man in wig. I wonder what % of `trans women` went to Scottish fee…Jan 19, 21:21
    • 100Yes on The Secondhand Amendment: “Peter Murrell, the former SNP chief executive, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) confirmed a date has been…Jan 19, 21:16
    • Mike on The Secondhand Amendment: “I see the separated Mrs Murrell was in a biker jacket and shorter hair cosying up to Ian McKellen, Graham…Jan 19, 21:06
    • Marie on The Secondhand Amendment: “Judge Kemp blaming a colleague for HIS flawed judgement in the Peggie case. Kemp is incompetent, irresponsible and truly pathetic.Jan 19, 20:45
  • A tall tale



↑ Top