Professor David Phinnemore:

We asked two questions. What we had been finding in the polling to date was that 75% of people felt they had a really good understanding of the protocol yet they also indicated there was a lack of reliable information around it. We wanted to know where people were getting their information and which sources they found most reliable. What we found in terms of the first question, on the sources of information, is that people tended to engage with television and radio programmes, news, discussion, political parties and we asked whether they consulted official sources etc. When we turned to the question of reliability, what was seen clearly as the most reliable sources of information were political parties for which people considered voting. Approximately 70% of people found these sources reliable or very reliable. Then there are the issues such as business groups, official sources and media dropping down the agenda. Social media was often an interesting one.