ICM: Brown's bounce may turn out to be a flop

Key findings in a ICM poll for the News of the World:

• "When asked about how he is dealing with the global economic crisis, a clear majority say Mr Brown is doing well. The ICM poll shows 54% say he is doing well, compared to 36% who say he is doing badly."
• "When asked who voters trust more, the Tories or Labour... Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling are backed by 43%, while David Cameron and George Osborne are supported by 35%."
• "The poll shows 13% say they would be MORE likely to vote Labour. In theory, such a shift would decimate David Cameron’s current 12 point lead in the polls. However, 22% of voters say they are now LESS likely to vote Labour - a shift which could give David Cameron a 16 point lead over Labour."
• "Surprisingly, working class voters prefer the Conservatives’ handling of the economic crisis over Labour (44% versus 34%)."

More from the NotW's Ian Kirby here.

8.15pm: And there's this from ComRes in The Independent on Sunday:

PoliticalBetting is emphasising that Brown is STILL 9% behind after an avalanche of positive coverage; Guido is emphasising that the Tory lead is down (just) to single figures (as we expected would happen).  We tend to agree with PB.com although there is one worrying number for the Conservatives:

If David Cameron had been prime minister, he would have handled the bank crisis better than Gordon Brown:

Agree 25% Disagree 56%.

10.45pm: A BPIX poll for the Mail on Sunday: "When voters are asked who they would vote for in an emergency General Election on the economy, Mr Cameron scores 45 per cent, with Labour only six points behind on 39. But when the economic crisis is removed from the question and voters concentrate on wider issues, the picture changes dramatically. The Tory rating rises to 46 while Labour slumps to 30, 16 points behind, with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats on a lowly 13."

Comments

[Raj]

ComRes have the following for another poll.

Conservatives - 40% (-1)
Labour - 31% (+2)
Lib Dems - 16% (-2)

If that's all Gordo is getting from "saving the world" then he's in real trouble. If the other polls follow this and what we're supposed to expect from ICM in NotW, the pressure is back on Labour and off the Conservatives.

[South Down Tory]

Oh dear! Looks like "SuperBroon" has been hit with a blast of kryptonite! We just need to hold our nerve and keep ramming home the point that Brown is responsible for the current mess we're in,

[John Harrison]

Is it a bird?......

Is it a plane?.....

NO!...

It's......

http://tiny.pl/s9qj

[Common Sense]

Keep going Tories, the only way is up now!! Hammer the message home good and proper - 'it's Brown what did it'!!!

Whilst your doing that get Dave to pull the 'wise men' in and start putting together plans. You don't need to say what they are yet, just make it known that the planning is well and truly underway. That'll get the interest up!!

[Tony Makara]

"Agree 25% Disagree 56%"

This might have been different if David Cameron had lambasted Brown for creating all the debt right throughout the crisis while the public attention was focused on the news. Still, the recession will allow for plenty of media time to pin the blame where it belongs. Gordon Brown has had a good run but even the political media must be getting bored with it by now. Time to get back to real politics rather than realpolitik.

[Britain will stay red]

Brown is only 9pc behind before he announces his plan for the real economy.

[anon]

On politicalbetting.com the speculation is that there is probably a set of voting intention figures from the ICM/NotW poll, that will be out tomorrow....

[David (One of many)]

I'm not someone who puts trust in single polls, and nor am I someone who thinks the Tories don't need to start bringing their A-game. But I certainly think it's slightly encouraging that after the best, most slanted, and most fawning press coverage he has had in a year, Brown can manage a shunt within the margin of error. The Tories have a share in the 40s, despite being pushed out of the news cycle for nearly three weeks, and their share has gone from mid-40s to low-40s. As I say, there is so, so much work to be done. But you'd have to be a hardcore doomsayer - or a Draper troll - to look at this poll and start screaming.

[Jennifer Wells]

I feared something a lot worse. Phew.

[Edison Smith]

That ComRes poll is a disaster for Brown.

1) 10% behind after 3 weeks of the best press he could ever hope for.

2) The most key thing of all is the fact that the Tories have remained on 40+ through all of this, which shows that the Tory vote is perhaps not as soft as widely assumed this time last month.

3) Last but not least - more people saying the last couple of weeks have made people LESS likely to vote Labour than MORE. Time to ram home the message: Labour's lies. Labour's failures. Labour's recession.

[asquith]

You'll be back. I certainly won't be supporting you (most likely the Liberal Democrats for me), but I think you've got the next election. I'll be opposing you :)

[DCMX]

And look at the yellow peril; The LD number in the CH poll of polls is truly awful. So much for Vince Cable's sage advice to the nation during the crisis.

I must stop now while I go and laugh and laugh and laugh . . .

[asquith]

You won't be laughing when Cameron has to govern & alienates either the reactionaries or (more likely) the liberals.

Watch that soft support melt...

[Sean Fear]

Most Conservative support is pretty solid, though, Asquith.

[Patsy Sergeant]

Eddison Smith @ 21.08 your message - 'LABOUR'S LIES, LABOUR'S FAILURES AND LABOUR'S RECESSION' is good, you should put it on the thread asking for 'one-liners'.

[Thatchures number 1 fan!!!]

how could anybody vote labour at the 2009/10 election. labour stands no chance and the lib dems wont get in for at least another 50 years. Vote Conservative lets put the final nail in socialisms coffin!

[Edison Smith]

BPIX in Daily Mail:

"When voters are asked who they would vote for in an emergency General Election on the economy, Mr Cameron scores 45 per cent, with Labour only six points behind on 39."

But when the economic crisis is removed from the question and voters concentrate on wider issues, the picture changes dramatically.

The Tory rating rises to 46 while Labour slumps to 30, 16 points behind, with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats on a lowly 13."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1078786/You-8217-like-Major-Churchill-voters-tell-Brown-latest-poll-shows-holds-election-hell-lose.html

[M Dowding]

Alistair Campbell used to polish the glowing ego of Tony Blair, now he has to polish a t*rd. Either job was doomed to fail. Plus Lord Mandy is in the forefront and sleaze headlines are back. I want a thumping Conservative majority and a solid LibDum opposition. We might get our country back then and staunch Conservatives would have a half respectable protest vote if our own leadership screwed up 1% as bad as this cretinous crowd. Save the world? Please!

[Gloy Plopwell]

Phew! This pol is such a releef for the lib Dems. Despite the news blackout, it's still 16%, and still above the 15% Comres showed when sadly had no choice but to decopitate poor Ming. Some polls still showed 11% at that time. Labour's boost can't last so the Lib Dems can overtake them by Christmas, and the falling Tory lead means lib Dems can then turn fire on them and cross over them too. With stupendous momentum about to resume, it's still possible to cross over both parties and win a majority of 50-60 in May 2010.

[Tim Montgomerie]

Thank you Edison. I've added the BPIX/ MoS numbers as a 10.45pm update.

[Raj]

You won't be laughing when Cameron has to govern & alienates either the reactionaries or (more likely) the liberals.

Watch that soft support melt...

Once you've got elected you can get down to the job of governing. Things would pick up before the parliamentary term was over.

[Matt Wright]

The poll is better than some thought it would be given the Brown spinathon. However there is a hell of a lot to do, there really is. The lead needs to be firmed up, support deepened and some grit and weight added.

[john]

Could somebody link to Craig Berry on Comment is Free, where he explains why he is leaving the Labour Party?
The response is fascinating. Almost all (Guardian) posters support him.

[ChrisD]

" If David Cameron had been prime minister, he would have handled the bank crisis better than Gordon Brown:

Agree 25% Disagree 56%."

That is a very disingenuous question IMHO. Cameron has not been in charge in No11, and then No10 for 11 years. More importantly, we are where we are with this financial mess. What magic bullet was lying around for Cameron and Osborne to load and fire over the last couple of weeks as an opposition party while the government implemented their grand plan?
You cannot judge Cameron and Osborne in this way until they are in Downing Street.

I don’t think that Brown has handled this crisis well, the media seem to think that bailing out the banks as a last resort with sums that make Black Wednesday look like a fiscal hiccup right at the start of what looks to be a very nasty recession was *good* news for Brown and his government? And to be honest, trying to now criticise the Conservatives for not coming up with a *another* plan as a contrast during the last couple of weeks is plain daft. They have been out of power for 11 years, and they would be better putting together an economic recovery plan that will be relevant at the time of the next GE. Holding the government to account and scrutinising their actions should be their primary concern right now.

[snegchui]

John @ 00:38

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/18/labour

[Votedave]

We're doing better than we were at this stage of the 1974-9 Parliament.

[Mapa]

folks, your missing the NU_new_labour big picture, which is to move from

1. 25 to 30% - box ticked
2. 30 to 35 in 18 months
3. general election NOC -Brown out/Cameron out

[Very Angry of UK]

Like I said and I really hate to be correct on this one...the polls are moving the other way now.

So as a balance please see below two posts on the Telegraph website today. The animosity towards Nu Labour , Brown and Blair cannot be understated. I hope that the News of world poll is incorrect and a blip and I also hope my original statement a few days ago is also incorrect but....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/10/18/do1801.xml&posted=true&_requestid=117126

Come on Dave get out there and tear this rotten PM to shreds for all his and his parties misdeads!!!!!!!!

----------------------------------

Post 1

Dear Mr Brown.

I wonder if any of the justified fury, the outrage, the scorn and contempt of the posters in here ( many of whose lives YOU have ruined, probably beyond repair ) will penetrate that thick, arrogant skull of yours.

Your hypocrisy in lauding the enterprise and the dynamism of the very the people whose wealth you STEAL to hand over to the workshy and the indigent is absolutely breathtaking.

Reading you disgusting wriggling and writhing in print, as if none of the travial that YOU have inflicted upon your subjects makes me feel physically sick.

I refer to them as your 'subjects' because that is what they truly are. For in your utter contempt for democracy ; your endless infringements of such liberties as they yet retain ; in your encouragement of a myriad petty officials to tyrannise them yet further, you are a dictator in all but name.

I marvel that the word democracy does not burn your lips when you dare to utter it, for to you, and the squalid minions that you have set in power over your own people are not merely undemocratic.

You, Sir, along with your ( and our ) lords and masters in Brussels and Strasbourg are acively, consistently and vehemently ANTIdemocratic.

One could sit at one's keyboard from now until tomorrow morning listing all your vanities, your arrogance, your utter contempt for any dissenting views ... but to what point?

What does it ... what can it POSSIBLY avail me, or indeed anyone but your own coterie of placemen and women to attempt a catalogue of all your misdeeds?

You are so far gone in your wholly misplaced sense of superiority over lesser mortals as to be literally beyond recall ; and certainly beyond redemption.

In short, Sir, you are total disgrace ; both as a man, and in your purporting to respect honour and integrity.

Your words and your deeds ; indeed your very facial expressions give the lie to such hypocritical utterances.

"What you see is what you get" was never more true than in your case, for your true character is writ large upon your countenance.

You, your fellow charlatan, Blair, and all your various myrmidons have wrought probably irreparable damage upon the nation whose unity and integrity you purport to value and to cherish. Yet another lie.

You, Sir, have, in the words of one in whose shadow you are not fit to stand, have " sat there too long. In the name of God, go!"

Terence F Flower

----------------------------------------

Post 2

Yours actions during the second week of October, freezing the assets of Icelandic Banks, on the shocking basis that it was a terrorist threat, has effectively ruined my life. I was one of the thousands of savers in the Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Isle of Man bank. I have retired overseas for a better climate, after years of saving and paying my taxes. I put my money in Derbyshire Building Society in the Isle of Man, subsequently taken over by Kaupthing.

I have never asked for any money from a government and have always worked for my own future and my own security. There are millions like us Gordon Brown; we are the backbone of Britain. Without us, the country would be nothing. We are the individuals who take responsibility for our future and work and save without expecting anything back. We’ve built Britain by our hard work. But you – you’re a mere civil servant who works for us. You are answerable to us. And you repay us by causing the closure of our bank, and the subsequent loss of our life’s work.

My life savings have been wiped out by your irresponsible actions – and they are the actions of an uneducated thug. When you wrongly invoked the terrorism act, using it for a purpose for which it was never intended and in consequence brought down a healthy bank in which our life savings were deposited, you put an end to our future and our dignity. And I cannot be blamed for being irresponsible. Saving with a healthy bank in Isle of Man is not high risk. But unfortunately no saver can be blamed for ignoring the possibility of an autocratic bully like you, who brings down world economies.

I worked as a technology consultant since I was in my late teens. I worked late at night in order to give my customers the best service. I put my customers first, before my own personal life. I worked so hard and made sacrifices. Then when I felt I had earned enough for my future, I retired and moved my savings into Derbyshire Building Society.

Mr. Brown I have paid 40% taxes for many years and in so doing, supporting and building Britain. I now find myself on the scrap heap. It is like a bereavement and I feel my world has come to an end. I have contemplated suicide and I know I am not the only one. For many people, the news of the loss of their life savings, especially when it is essential to support one’s retirement, is so shocking that it seems to spell the end of one’s life. For me the impact is impossible to bear. You will have blood on your hands Mr. Brown if you do not make amends for your irresponsible actions.

Posted by S James on October 18, 2008 5:40 PM

[Very Angry of UK]

How to vote Labour out if you live overseas

http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/register_to_vote/british_citizens_living_abroad.aspx

[Libertarian]

Why are commenters here so happy that the Conservative poll lead has halved during an economic crisis?

Cameron and Osborne should be very worried. Osborne's media performances have been dreadful.

My local Tory friends are very worried and consider Osborne an electoral liability who could stop them taking their seat back.

Cameron has to demonstrate real leadership now. That means sacking his close ally and replacing him with Hague. It is Blair and Brown all over again.

[ChrisD]

Libertarian, there is now a less than subtle campaign going on to try and undermine Osborne with a view to having him removed.
I am not talking about the daily whinging on here, but more about the strategy in No10.

You see they actually a)fear Osborne as a stragetgist.
b)dislike him even more than Cameron, its personal.
c)it would be very good for the government and very dangerous for the Conservatives if he was removed.

Quite simple, we have the usual fit of vapours from the usual strand in the party. And these days we don't even need to be tanking in the polls. As yet, despite Cameron and Osborne managing to stick a metal rod down the spine of the Conservative party, never underestimate the ability of some within the party to naval gaze with no idea of how their actions will damage the supposed cause they wish to pursue.

Just look back at the actions of the same group within the party over the last 17 years, and what it cost electorally.

[Malcolm Dunn]

Not bad, better than I expected.But still all too play for.
Yvette Cooper's interview today about home repossessions show once again how bankrupt Labour appears to be for ideas.They're putting billions into Northern Rock and HBOS but trying to stop them acting in a commercial manner. That's really great news for the tax payer- not! Banks only repossess as a last resort anyway, in markets like this it's a lose/lose situation. Still Yvette wants her cheap headlines. Labour are a complete shower!

[David Belchamber]

ChrisD at 13.23:

"You see they actually a)fear Osborne as a stragetgist.
b)dislike him even more than Cameron, its personal.
c)it would be very good for the government and very dangerous for the Conservatives if he was removed".

As one of the many people who is very critical of George Osborne, I still agree with everything you have written above. He is invaluable to the party and should have a central role in attacking Labour. I believe he should be given responsibility for directing the lead-up to the election and the campaign itself.

What worries me enormously is what he has done - or perhaps, not done - as shadow chancellor over a number of years. There has been no great pressure on Brown, few prompt rebuttals of Brown's fallacious figures or policies. Why is Vince Cable always called up to oppose the government on the economy and not GO?

He has had some excellent moments - as in his conference speeches - and some very good set-piece articles. But he can't cut it in question and answer sessions, when you really have to have a grasp of detail.

I have invited his supporters a number of times to cite actual examples of when he has done this but I am still waiting.

[M Dowding]

ChrisD, great post as always and the help,

John @ 00:38

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/18/labour

Posted by: snegchui | October 19, 2008 at 02:59

in directing us to a site devoid of the troll Campbell/Draper crap.
I am at a loss to understand how the pure hatred emanating from the public is not resonating with the MSM. I for one am likely to scrap all but one newspaper due to their useless ability to tap into the anger out there. Cameron and George Osborne do wonders when you consider the anti-Tory stance of 80% of TV and media coverage.
As for the economy. It is a disaster and that dysfunctional Brown and his lickspittle Darling are talking of bringing capital spending forward. They haven't two halfpennies to rub together so destroy all that remains to stop any chance of success for the new force that enters into Government. Scorched earth policy for sure but not before this ruling elite has sucked the last drop from the public's teat.
I really hate what they have done to our Country and it's people and feel for S James (October 18, 2008 5:40 PM).
Sadly one of millions facing penury that this lot have condemned us all to and in particular the needless destruction of pension funds from 1997 onwards. Not their pensions, of course.

[M Dowding]

I am also angry at the space given to "Green Box". A typical "village" self serving bunch of out of touch Labour luvvies. The BBC-Campbell-mandleson mouthpiece again. Always negative and hectoring. yet if a good story breaks for Conservatives, bury it. Brown back to April levels of popularity? Where do they get this drivel? Useless, useless rubbish.

[M Dowding]

PoliticsHome is a disgrace. Look at the headline 2Brown's popularity............. and that of Darling..............
A eulogy of epic and joyous sychophancy and tucked away at the very bottom of this article,

"While these figures demonstrate that there has been a genuine change in the public mood, overall Brown and the government still have a very long way to go to compete with the Conservatives. The percentage difference between Cameron and Brown's net approval ratings is still 25, but down from a high of 50 at its worst point in the summer. Cameron still beats Brown on every positive characteristic, while overwhelmingly the panel feel that the Conservatives would do a better job of running the country"
Time to dump this extra Beeboid rubbish, methinks!

[ChrisD]

"What worries me enormously is what he has done - or perhaps, not done - as shadow chancellor over a number of years. There has been no great pressure on Brown, few prompt rebuttals of Brown's fallacious figures or policies. What worries me enormously is what he has done - or perhaps, not done - as shadow chancellor over a number of years. There has been no great pressure on Brown, few prompt rebuttals of Brown's fallacious figures or policies."

David, Osborne put great pressure on Brown during his period as his opposite number.
It was noted by some at the time, he was the first Shadow Chancellor that managed to get Brown to lose his temper at the Despatch box.
He was IIRC, the architect of the strategy to concentrate on undermining Brown rather than Blair because it would be Gordon Brown that the party would face at the next GE.

More importantly, Browns personal polling figures were very poor during this period as well, something Mike Smithson of PB.com noted time and again.

"Why is Vince Cable always called up to oppose the government on the economy and not GO?"

But look at where the Libdems are in the polls? Vince is simple jumping into a narrative vacuum left by the Labour party when it comes to explaining the "we are where we are" bit at the moment.
The Libdems have converted to the joys of a tax cutting agenda, this convenient U-turn has happen just as the Conservatives are heading for government and the Libdems are losing ground to them?
Where was this zeal during the good years when we should have been able to afford it?
Yet the party renowned as a tax cutter is now saying that they can only be achieved when they are affordable. As the Conservatives found out, the voters have to be prepared to listen and believe your promises, and that is the Libdems biggest problem right now.

Many people don't even remember who the Shadow leaders and Chancellors of the opposition parties were during Black Wednesday?
But they do remember who was leading the parties at the next GE in 97'.
Osborne is doing his job right now, and to even contemplate trying to grab the headlines with a *bad* news story about replacing our Shadow Chancellor would be incredible stupid.

As I said up thread, the Shadow Treasury team would be better putting together an economic recovery plan that will be relevant at the time of the next GE. Holding the government to account and scrutinising their actions should be their primary concern right now. But at the height of the drama unfolding with the Banking bail out and markets dropping like a stone was not the appropriate time.

Its taken a while, but the Brownites no longer underestimate Cameron or Osborne. And for that reason expect their attacks on both men to become more nasty and personal as the GE nears.

And remember the other Smithson rule, when Cameron is in the news the Conservatives polling figures go up, expect to see that strategy of making Cameron the focal point rather than Osborne continue for the foreseeable future. Its annoying for some in the party, buts its sound politics. It was Blair that won three GE, not Gordon Brown, who amazingly managed to keep an extremely low profile while in No11.
And yet still a myth was born about his economic prowess, something that has never had any solid foundations.

[David Belchamber]

ChrisD at 17.11;

"It was noted by some at the time, he was the first Shadow Chancellor that managed to get Brown to lose his temper at the Despatch box.
He was IIRC, the architect of the strategy to concentrate on undermining Brown rather than Blair..."

I concede some of your points but my impression, not as an activist but as someone who is vitally concerned that we get rid of this government asap, is that we have been pretty limp in opposition on the economic front and it is clear from many other correspondents that they feel the same:

I think the correlation between Vince Cable and the Lib Dems' standing in the polls is not a completely valid one, as the polls reflect rather the electorate's view of the leader.

I think Vince C shows a grasp of detail that GO has never demonstrated - except perhaps in prepared speeches and articles.

Anyway, having heard Alex Salmond in full flow today, I know what the opposition should sound like!

[ChrisD]

"I concede some of your points but my impression, not as an activist but as someone who is vitally concerned that we get rid of this government asap, is that we have been pretty limp in opposition on the economic front and it is clear from many other correspondents that they feel the same"

David, to be honest, where you see us as being limp on the economic front, I see us finally breaking the cycle of forever repeating past mistakes.
If the Conservatives had rolled an economic policy platform in the last 2 years, the government would have trashed the bad bits and nicked the good ones.
And the media, well they would have spent the entire period up to the election asked us about that, and not the new policy platform which would have been needed to deal with the economic situation we were in a GE.

As the last few months have proved, the government can change their minds much more easily than oppositions, because they can implement those changes, where as we cannot.
Take the idea that some how the Conservatives amongst others, not least the IMF have not been criticising Brown's fiscal policies and record for a while now. They have, but neither the media or the electorate were listening. Well they will be at the next GE, and that is something that we can thank the present leadership for.

[M Dowding]

On radio 4 today, at around 1715, an economics expert laid the UK's problems today on the regulatory failings of the system cobbled together by Brown/Blair in 1997. A powerful and precise indictment of the charlatans still in power. Or should I say in office but not in power.

[ChrisD]

This article penned by Benedict Brogan for his blog is worth a read, but not for the points being made by him.
Mandelson: The Wasted Years

"He lashed the banks for the way they are treating small and medium businesses at a time of what he amusingly calls "contraction". He reveals he met with SME representatives last week, and after discussions with Alistair Darling plans to take on the banks and their practices. One problem he highlighted is banks that unilaterally change their terms, and charge firms an administrative cost for the privilege. He's rightly identified that preventing the Age of Irresponsibility (Copyright G Brown) from contracting the life out of SMEs is his top priority"

They are attempting to play Big Brother to the Banking system, the Energy companies, and even the humble petrol forecourt. And at a time when NR, the only previously nationalised Bank has been extremely heavy handed in their behaviour to their customers.
Take the price of petrol at the pump, if Mr Brown is so concerned, why doesn't he reduced fuel duty?
I also suspect that rather than trying to help some of the councils worst effected by the collapse of the Icelandic Banks, they will in turn try and use the present crisis for political gain before the local elections next year.

Cameron and Osborne on the other hand, have over the last week tried to identify and address the prominent groups effected by the present crisis individually. They are trying to offer real solutions, and expect some of them to suddenly appear in Darlings PBR.

But make no mistake, the plan is too keep bashing the banks and other industries like Oil and Gas in an attempt to see them carry the can for the failure of this government.

Wasted Years, more like the age of irresponsibility from an incompetent bunch of spin merchants who presided over the whole sorry mess!
Brown did not want to know when the Oil companies were struggling to reinvest in the North Sea with oil at $10 a barrel. But the minute they are making big profits and he needs to fill a black hole...
Its worth reading Andrew Rawnsley's "Servants of the People", its a good critique of New Labour's first term in power. And Blair was very successful at spinning the line about a wasted first term.

Same old faces of government spin, peddling the same old excuses!

[David Belchamber]

ChrisD at 19.11:

"If the Conservatives had rolled an economic policy platform in the last 2 years, the government would have trashed the bad bits and nicked the good ones".

Once again I agree with that comment completely (and have said as much on several occasions). The fact is that people who really do know about economics - the finance and business editors like Jeff Randall - do not rate Osborne - as shadow chancellor.

Where I don't rate him is when he is interviewed and has to think on his feet or in the HoD when he has allowed Brown's figures (inflation, unemployment, crime, govt borrowing etc) to go unchallenged, when Brown has selected the figures to suit his purposes.

These are not matters of policy but simply opposing things that are demonstrably untrue. He didn't latch on immediately to the 10p fiasco, whereas the Lib Dems (i.e. Vince Cable) did.

[Bexie]

Choking over my lunch reading this, but two points to make.

My Vox Pop in the pub shows how angry local voters are about the smoking ban. It is interesting that people actually talk about this more than the economy

Second Vox Pop indicates that voters clearly pin the blame for the mess on Broon and Zanulab.

This is from people who I would pin as Labour Core vote. Cameron should take note of the first adn address it, and Osbourne should take not of the second and land some heavy punches on the plundering of pensions and the complete malfeasance of Brown and his cronies regarding his responsibility as Chancellor of the Exchequer