Toby Young claims 'Scottish mobs are turning people away at the border'

Young was responding to a poll that found that Scots were the most likely in the UK to believe a high percentage of Brits have died of coronavirus.

The survey, carried out by Kekst data consultancy, found Scots think that 10.23% of Brits have died of coronavirus, with the South West of England closely following at 9.08%, followed by the East Midlands at 8.84%.

But only 89 Scots were polled, compared to 144 from the South West of England, 139 from London and 119 from the North West of England.

READ MORE: Michael Gove brands Scottish border virus protesters 'bampots'

Young tweeted: "This is incredible. Scottish people think COVID-19 has killed 10% of the U.K. population. No wonder mobs are turning people away at the border! Real figure is <0.1%."

This is incredible. Scottish people think COVID-19 has killed 10% of the U.K. population. No wonder mobs are turning people away at the border! Real figure is <0.1%. pic.twitter.com/PwMV2qetZI

— Toby Young (@toadmeister) July 28, 2020

More than 45,000 people in the UK have died from coronavirus, government figures show, though the death toll including cases linked to the virus is thought to exceed 65,000.

Twitter users hit out at Young's comments. Here are some of the best responses:

1.

I'm Scottish and I don't know anyone who believes that. A bit like saying English people believe the earth is flat! Or Irish people believe Elvis is alive & living in Brigadoon! Or Britisb people believe the BBC is impartial...

— scottyman (@tonyfiddler) July 28, 2020

2.

That’s not what the table says. For a start only 89 Scots responded. The standard error and deviations are the highest for all locations, so widest sample of responses and mean is furthest away from true population.

— Bruce Sweeney (@brucersweeney) July 28, 2020

3.

Perfect example of how wording of a question affects the answer. Some people will answer assuming it's the % that died having had covid and answer accordingly. It's a trick often used in political polls to get a desired answer tho it looks to have been accidental here.

— Mike Ruddy (@mruddy1965) July 28, 2020

4.

This is incredible. 100% of Toby Young thinks that a poll questioning 89 people gives an accurate reflection of a whole nation's views. Did you notice that everyone in the Midlands thinks the figure is between 8-9%?

— 🎼Phil Robinson (@PjrFoto) July 28, 2020

5.

As a scot you and what ever made up this nonsense are talking pish....

— Better meddle wi' the de'il than the Bairns o' Fal (@pawpatrolrules) July 28, 2020

During a protest in early July, pro-independence supporters hung a banner saying "Staycation — Keep Scotland Covid-Free" beneath the official Welcome To Scotland sign on the border with England.

Scottish ministers condemned the demonstration, with Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf calling it "horrible, reprehensible and vile".

Another protest on July 22 involved activists putting up a banner reading "England get out of Scotland" beneath the Welcome To Scotland sign on the A1.

Sean Clerkin, whose Action for Scotland group was behind the demonstration, said there will be further events in the coming days and months.

He said these will take place at "ports of entry from England such as airports, railway stations, bus stations and roads".