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THE wording of Alex Salmond’s independence referendum could have a decisive impact on the result, according to an exclusive Daily Record poll.

We tested two different questions asking if Scotland should be independent.

Support for independence was just 36 per cent using a Labour version which asked: “Do you want Scotland to be an independent country or not?”

But it rose to 46 per cent when we posed Salmond’s proposed question: “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?”

The same questions were answered by 631 Scots adults yesterday.

The findings appeared to confirm concerns that Salmond’s question is “loaded”.

Since the wording was unveiled on Wednesday, a string of election experts and market researchers have warned that asking a question beginning with “Do you agree...” helps prompt a yes answer.

Several people in our poll voted yes to both independence and staying in the UK, suggesting the yes camp in the referendum campaign will have an in-built advantage.

The importance of the wording was revealed in another recent poll which asked a question loaded against independence.

The Daily Telegraph asked Scots if they wished to live in a “completely separate country outside the UK”.

With that wording, support for independence fell to 19 per cent.

Historically, support for independence has hovered around 30 per cent, according to polls. A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “This show the need for the Electoral Commission to independently decide the question.

“We know the issue but we need a fair, clear question.

“This debate must be above party politics.

“However Scotland votes, the day after everybody must be clear the process that got to the outcome was fair and open.

“Alex Salmond can’t set his own question.”

The SNP Government have agreed to consult the Electoral Commission on the wording.

But they have not revealed what they will do if the watchdog raises objections to their question. A spokesman for the First Minister said: “This is an excellent poll, showing that it is already neck-and-neck.

“And we are extremely confident of winning a successful yes vote for independence in the autumn 2014 referendum.

“Voters understand that SNP Government policy is for an independent Scotland with the Queen as head of state.

“Scotland and England would become united kingdoms rather than the United Kingdom, which is why the question proposed in our consultation is the appropriate one.”