| Translated from English to American, that means that the Scottish National Party is planning to vote a measure for independence in the Scottish Parliament if they win the next election. |
The SNP claims that if the poll result was repeated at voting booths next year it would eradicate Labour's majority at the Scottish Parliament. If Salmond becomes First Minister, he has pledged to introduce a bill for an independence referendum within 100 days of taking up office.
The poll is the first major test of public opinion in Scotland since Tony Blair incensed many within his own party over his support for Israel during the conflict in Lebanon. Both the two main parties in Scotland that oppose Blair's foreign policy, the SNP and Liberal Democrats, appear to have gained as a result, with Labour well down on their 2003 showing.
Polling experts said the results confirmed that next year's election race would be the closest yet for control of the Scottish Parliament.
In an interview with Scotland on Sunday today, the SNP leader set out his plans for his first few weeks in office, declaring he will govern with "a hard head and a soft heart".
But Labour insisted that once voters had assessed the cost of separating from the rest of the UK, support for the SNP would dissipate.
The poll, conducted by Scottish Opinion, asked 1,000 Scots who they intended to support next year. It did not, however, break the question down into first and second votes to reflect the Scottish electoral system. Scottish Opinion carried out the poll to determine the correct balance of public opinion on focus groups which it carries out for the SNP. The party passed a copy of its findings to this newspaper.
A total of 58% expressed a preference for a political party. Of those, 33% said they supported the SNP, up from the 24% who backed them in 2003. Labour secured 29% of support, down six percentage points from 2003. The Liberal Democrats won 19%, up four points. The Tories have slumped to 10%, down seven points. The Greens are on 5%.