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14 June 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 2:18am

Is this the most absurd opinion poll question of all time?

YouGov bosses should hang their heads in shame.

By Mehdi Hasan

The YouGov poll for yesterday’s Sunday Times included this ridiculous question:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

The government could save billions of pounds by eliminating unnecessary “non-jobs” in the public sector.

Agree 85

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Disagree 6

Don’t know 9

Can you imagine a more loaded phrase than “unnecessary ‘non-jobs’ in the public sector”? I’m amazed that even 6 per cent disagreed. I mean, they might as well have asked people: “Do you agree with the state paying people to do nothing?” It would have elicited the same response.

 

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