Upper panel: p-values for variance asymmetry measured as the number of simulations with local-variance dipole amplitudes larger than those inferred from the data, as a function of disc radius for the four component-separated E-mode polarization maps, Commander (red), NILC (orange), SEVEM (green), and SMICA (blue), at the HEALPix resolution of N_side = 64. Lower panel: corresponding local-variance dipole directions for the four component-separation E-mode polarization maps, and for 4° discs. For reference, we also show the CMB dipole direction, the north ecliptic pole (NEP), the south ecliptic pole (SEP), and the preferred dipolar modulation axis (labelled as “low-ℓ”) derived from the temperature data in Sect. 7.2.