A curious facet of the independence debate in recent weeks has been the rise in – mostly, but not exclusively, Unionist – commentators rubbishing the idea that Scots are significantly different in their social attitudes from people in the rest of the UK.

It’s been pointed out that a majority of Scots support the benefit cap (glossing over the fact that it applies to basically nobody in Scotland), it’s been claimed that most Scots back Trident, and most recently that contrary to popular belief, they’re no less Eurosceptic than their English neighbours.

So we were curious when Saga recently conducted a large-sample poll of its members (people aged 50 and above, generally considered to be the most conservative demographic) about their attitudes to the EU, and the Scottish press reported it without mentioning the Scottish results.

Armed with our recently-acquired knowledge of British Polling Council rules (specifically the one that says full data tables should be made publicly available within 48 hours of headline findings being released to the media), we started searching for the data tables on the website of Populus, the BPC member who conducted with the poll.

A week after the results were being reported by newspapers, we’d still drawn a blank. Tweets and emails to Populus were ignored, but after chasing them up by phone yesterday we finally got hold of the tables today. The total sample size of the poll was 11,211 people, with a Scottish sub-sample of a very respectable 815 – slightly less than you’d want for a proper, fully-legitimate poll, but still a decent guide.

The results were straightforward.

IF THERE WAS AN IN-OUT EU REFERENDUM, HOW WOULD YOU VOTE?

Whole UK

Stay in the EU: 33%

Leave the EU: 45%

Don’t know/won’t say: 22%

Scotland

Stay in the EU: 42%

Leave the EU: 36%

Don’t know/won’t say: 22%

England/UK excluding Scotland

Stay in the EU: 32%

Leave the EU: 46%

Don’t know/won’t say: 22%

(As whole numbers, figures for England and the rUK are the same. Of the other UK constituent nations, Wales also wanted out – by 45% to 35% – and Northern Ireland, on a tiny sample of 99, wanted to stay by the smallest possible margin, 39-38. England likes the EU the least, Scotland the most.)

The UK, even with Scotland in it, would vote to leave the EU, by a clear 12% margin, while Scotland would vote to stay in by a margin of 6%. The 18-point margin is large, but the simpler key fact is that on an in-out vote, the UK wants out of the EU and Scotland wants to stay in.

Now, with sizeable numbers of uncommitted voters, and bearing in mind the audience was a narrow demographic of older people, these results obviously aren’t a conclusive picture. But the broad findings do tally with several other polls of various sizes which show Scots in favour of the EU and the rest of the UK against.

So we can’t help wondering why that fact didn’t make it into any Scottish newspapers.