Polling expert explains why this week's big independence poll matters

A woman holding a Yes Scotland placard at a Scottish independence march in Inverness this year (Paul Campbell)

RELEASE a poll on Scottish independence, and you are guaranteed two things: politicians for whom it is positive news will trumpet it, and those for whom it is negative will play it down or dismiss it.

The reaction to the latest Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey findings has been no different. The SNP and other pro-independence groups are running out of superlatives to describe the conclusion that most Scots support independence and that that support now stands at its highest since the SSA began asking in 1999.