A NEW opinion poll by IPSOS-Mori for STV was published today. Fieldwork for this new poll was carried out during the same period that the one million free copies of The National's independence special edition were being distributed to households across the country. 

The poll produced a stunning and convincing majority for independence with 55% of those polled who expressed a preference saying that they plan to vote Yes in the referendum which the Scottish Government plans to hold before the end of 2023. Significantly, the majority for Yes which this poll has produced is greater than the 3% margin of error which is standard in opinion polling.

READ MORE: SNP and Greens extend support as Unionists lag behind

The period when fieldwork for the poll was being carried out was also the time when the Johnson Government was mired in accusations of sleaze and corruption. Although it is more accurate to say that it was when the Johnson Government was mired in accusations of sleaze and corruption again. It ought to be clear by now that the Westminster Parliament is not going to change. We have seen these kinds of allegations of Conservative sleaze and corruption before and it is an absolute certainty that we are going to see them again.

The poll gives a huge boost to the First Minister's plan – announced earlier this week – for the Scottish Government and the SNP to reinvigorate the independence campaign early in the coming year with a view to making preparations later in 2022 for a vote on independence in 2023.

This is the second poll in a week which validates the Scottish Government's position. A different poll earlier this week for the Sunday Times found that 53% in Scotland agree that another independence referendum should take place within the term of this Scottish Parliament, the timetable set out by the SNP during May's Scottish Parliamentary elections, an election which was handsomely and convincingly won by the SNP which together with the Scottish Greens won the largest pro-independence majority ever seen in Holyrood despite a well-organised and suspiciously well-funded tactical voting campaign by opponents of independence.

The STV poll shows that Scotland is receptive to the message of independence. It is probably premature and presumptive to claim that it was "The National wot won it" even though fieldwork for the poll was being carried out just as one million copies of arguments for independence were dropping through doorsteps. 

However, it is certainly the case that when the Scottish Government, the SNP and the wider Yes movement focus on making the case for independence and providing information and arguments which can persuade undecideds and soft noes of the case for independence, that this will be reflected in rising public support for an independent Scotland.

However, what this poll ought to tell us is that in the weeks and months ahead as we make the case for an independent Scotland, we are increasingly pushing at an open door. More and more, people in Scotland are willing to listen to pro-independence arguments and are open to persuasion, and the more that the Tories and their allies resort to sleazy dark money, the more that people in Scotland become determined that things have to change for good, a change that can only come with independence.

This piece is an extract 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.

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