Surge in support for rejoining EU is a reason to get excited about the UK's future again

The Scotsman's comment piece argues that rejoining the EU offers the UK an escape from economic stagnation, and it attributes its economic estimates and its poll figure to named sources. Its headline promises a "surge" in support, but the body gives only one current poll figure and no earlier one to show a rise. Nothing else in the piece misleads its reader on the narrow grounds on which an opinion piece is judged.

Opinion piece: read for false claims of fact and for fairness to the people it names, not for its opinions.

1. Headline goes beyond the article

   Minor

   “Surge in support for rejoining EU”

   Why this matters

   The headline says support for rejoining the EU has surged, which is a claim about change over time.

   The impression it gives

   A reader expects the article to show that support has risen sharply and recently.

   The context

   The body gives a single YouGov figure of 59 per cent and the line that "the tide is turning". It gives no earlier figure, no date range and no comparison. Nothing in the article shows how much support has grown or how fast, so the word "surge" goes beyond what the body supports.

   How we know

   • Elsewhere in the article“According to YouGov, 59 per cent of voters now support rejoining.”
   • Elsewhere in the article“but the tide is turning”

   Show it in the article