Guest post: nationally renowned pollster Mark Diffley breaks down opposition to grouse shooting in Scotland
THE ISSUE of grouse shooting for sport is one which is high on the political agenda at the moment and our recent poll shows clear evidence that the vast majority of Scots oppose the practice.
Conducted online among a representative sample of the adult population in Scotland, the poll offers interesting insight into the level of support and opposition to grouse shooting and how these numbers break down among different segments of the population.
At the national level, when asked “To what extent do you support or oppose grouse shooting for sport” seven in 10 Scots (70%) either “strongly oppose” (50%) or “tend to oppose” (20%), while just 12% either “strong support” (4%) or “tend to support” (8%); grouping this data means that there is a balance of +58 points towards opposition to grouse shooting for sport.
And while, as we shall see, there are some interesting differences in attitudes between different parts of the population, it is worth noting that there is no single demographic or geographic segment where support for grouse shooting exceeds a third.
That said, there are some interesting variations in attitudes which are worth considering. Firstly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, there are some geographic differences based on whether you live in an urban or rural area; this does not equate to rural Scots supporting grouse shooting, but does mean that their opposition is less strongly felt. So, 20% of those in rural areas support grouse shooting, double the 10% from urban areas, while opposition is smaller (63%) among rural dwellers compared to 71% in urban areas.
Further, drilling further into urban/rural differences reveals that opposition to grouse shooting is strongest in large urban areas (75% opposed). At the other end of the scale 33% of those in the ost remote rural areas of Scotland support grouse shooting although, even in these areas, this is outweighed by the 57% who are opposed.
There is also some demographic variation in the findings, with women more likely to oppose grouse shooting (76%) than men (62%), while there is also some correlation to age, with opposition as high as 77% among those aged under 25, compared to 59% of those aged 55-64 and 66% of those agreed 65 and over.
However, these differences reflect varying degrees of opposition to grouse shooting rather than any significant level of support. So, while it is true that pockets of the population do support practice of grouse shooting for sport, the evidence is clear that the vast majority are opposed.
