Anyone who thinks that the latest YouGov poll on Scottish independence, which shows the ‘No’ camp with a six-point lead over ‘Yes’ at 52 per cent to 48 per cent (once don’t-knows are excluded) is getting a little ahead of themselves.
It is significant that this is the same pollster who sent Westminster into panic on Sunday with its poll putting ‘Yes’ in the lead. But the only effect this poll should have on the ‘No’ campaign in the final days is to stop a blind, useless sort of panic where bad decisions are made and colleagues brief against one another before the final result.
The last-minute panic that the three pro-union party leaders have found themselves in this week has largely been a good thing as it has warded off complacency and galvanised not just politicians but ordinary voters in the rest of the UK to set out in stronger, more emotional, terms just why they don’t want Scotland to leave.

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