![Saltire](http://web.archive.org./web/20161105111350im_/http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Saltire1.jpg)
By Lord Ashcroft
“Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” No self-respecting pollster would ask the question that Alex Salmond proposes to put on the ballot paper in his referendum. As Professor Robert Cialdini, the author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion told the Today programme last week, the question Mr Salmond wants to use is “loaded and biased”, because it “sends people down a particular cognitive chute designed to locate agreements rather than disagreements”. My latest poll suggests Cialdini is right.