Almost half of Scots are against the controversial Named Person scheme, according to a new poll.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by The Times, found that 48 per cent of Scots oppose the scheme, 26 per cent being strongly against it.
The figures also revealed that 35 per cent of SNP supporters are against the scheme, while just 44 per cent back it.
Opposition
Opposition is evident across the political spectrum with 63 per cent of Labour voters and 74 per cent of Conservative voters opposed.
According to the poll of around 1,000 Scottish adults, less than a third of people (32 per cent) are in support. Only six per cent of people are strongly in support.
A fifth of respondents said they don’t know what to think about the plans, despite the fact that they are due to become law in August.
Bad legislation
Responding to the figures Simon Calvert, spokesman for the No to Named Persons campaign (NO2NP), said the Government has not won in the “court of public opinion”.
“This is bad legislation which can bring no good, only one in three Scots agree with it.
“Supporters of the named person are losing the argument. The more people hear about the named person, the less they like it.
The more people hear about the named person, the less they like it.
Simon Calvert
Demands
“Governments have to take people with them, especially over something as sensitive as this. There’s no way they can impose a state guardian on every family in the country when only a third of them want it.”
Last week it emerged that the NHS will be unable to cope with the demands of the Named Person scheme if, as planned, it becomes law in August.
The Scottish Daily Mail revealed that NHS Grampian does not have a sufficient number of trained health visitors – who would be responsible for monitoring children from birth to age 5.
Because of this, existing health visitors will have to take on a much greater workload.
Change of heart
Political opposition to the plans has also been mounting.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Scottish Labour MSP Jenny Marra said she had changed her mind and ‘would not vote to support the legislation again’.
Legal action has been taken against the Scottish Government over the scheme, which allocates a state guardian to every child in Scotland from birth to age 18, tasked with looking after their “wellbeing”.
Wrestling with an octopus
Last week, the legal case against the plans reached the UK Supreme Court where judges heard that they bypass parents, and that the legislation is so complicated it is like “wrestling with an octopus”.
The senior judges will deliver their verdict in the coming months and have the power to put a halt to the legislation.