Almost half of all Scots now support Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's controversial decision to release the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in a dramatic shift in public opinion.
The YouGov poll of 1556 people found 45% thought Mr MacAskill made the right call to free Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi last month on compassionate grounds. The same percentage said he was wrong.
It shows a swing in support for the release following a BBC poll last Friday, when only 32% supported it. (...)
The research, for the SNP on Tuesday and Wednesday, found 49% of white-collar workers were in favour with 43% against. Support among blue-collar workers was 41% while 47% disagreed.
There was a difference in opinion among age groups. Between the ages of 18 to 34, support levelled out at 39% but among the over-55s, it reached 55%.
Almost half of those questioned (49%) said Nelson Mandela's support for Megrahi's release had enhanced Scotland's reputation, but a quarter said it had been damaged.
A spokesman for Mr MacAskill said: "The poll demonstrates a very substantial shift of opinion towards support for the Justice Secretary's decision."
[The above is from a report in today's edition of The Herald. The official poll results can be read here on the YouGov website. The SNP's press release on the poll can be read here.]
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