IT’S NOT THE easiest thing in the world to secure top billing for Scottish independence on News at Ten, but a shock opinion poll did the trick way back in 1992, during the runup to a general election that saw John Major’s Tories unexpectedly cling on to power. The poll showed exactly 50% support for a fully sovereign Scottish state -a remarkable result given that constitutional polls in those days did not use the binary Yes/No question we’re so used to now. Generally there were three options to choose from: independence, devolution and the status quo (the latter meaning direct rule from London). The happy-clappy middle option of devolution almost always came out on top, but not on this occasion - hence the full ITN “bong” treatment.