Labour slump to 25% but voters unsure of Tories on economy

ComRes appears to confirm the uptick in LibDem support already suggested by ICM and Populus.

It must be panic stations again in Labour HQ with the party's poll rating down to 25% in this latest poll and 28.6% in the ConHome Poll of Polls (the lowest since last September).  In The Telegraph Andrew Porter and James Kirkup examine the increasingly gloomy mood in Downing Street.

The Conservatives are on course for a healthy majority but one poll question finds voters still unconvinced about Tory economic policy:

ComRes finds no evidence of an increase in support for smaller parties.  Anthony Wells had a good post on 'others' on Wednesday: "My guess is that that high others score contains lots of otherwise Labour voters who are annoyed with the government, went back to backing Labour after the bailout, and have now drifted off again."

Comments

[Sane Right]

The Conservative Party is flatlining

Flatlining at an election winning percentage, but given the unfolding economic disaster we ought to be tickling 50%.

What we need now is a groundbreaking economic policy.

[josh]

The electorate are getting fed up with the opposition party and the Government bickering at each other adnd this poll is indicative of this.

[oldrightie]

Labour at 25%. Pure joy as LibDums overtake them and they fall below 20%. deservedly!

[Matthew Reynolds]

We need to offer to cut the unsustainable level of public borrowing that is damaging sterling and will be a blight on future generations. We need to end the £100 billion p/a of waste as identified by the Tax Payers Alliance as all the evidence points to Big Government being a blight on economic growth & stability. High taxes during an era of tax competition is just madness as we drive business , jobs and prosperity overseas by levying too much on wealth creation.

We cannot moan about surging public borrowing, profligate state spending and taxation being too high while not saying how a Conservative government will rectify the situation. Voters want this mess cleared up and to win on the economy we need to sell the opposite policy designed to produce the opposite outcome to the Brown Recession.

We should not be on only 41% and have a minus 10% rating on the economy. If Labor are having a falling poll rating we should be gaining ground - rather than dropping 2% and seeing the Liberals surge by 6%.

This is a worry that voters are deserting the government & the opposition for the Liberal Democrats during an economic crisis.Ken Clarke needs to go on the attack against the Liberals on economic policy so that we can appeal to worried swing voters in marginal seats. George Osborne & Philip Hammond need to take the gloves off by explaining to the voters how the Tories will tax , spend and borrow less.

This poll proves that less sniping and more policy action coupled with a higher profile being taken by the front-bench is needed.

[Daniel Furr]

It is an economic depression. Voters are going to be unsure about the opposition. During 1997, the public still favoured the Tories with the economy. Look what happened.

16% lead? Very positive.

[Richard]

I think it is about time we started turning some our fire,towards the Libs,it is easy to crush them,just mention the Lisbon Treaty & there policy on the Euro.

Polls have shown,they are on the wrong side of public opinion on both,by about 80%-20%

Trouble is we don't want to attack them to much,as i say its to easy,we could frighten their new found support back to Labour.

Lets be honest though,if we could take this poll into the GE,we have done it #10 beckons once more.

[strapworld]

Time for Cameron to bring in John Redwood. David Davis. Malcolm Raffkind. Time to call it a day for the Tory cheats -those that tried to get a back stairs agreement with the government!- Time to say goodbye to thos shadow ministers who are, frankly, useless.

Time for Cameron to lay it out. How tough it is going to be- How public spending WILL HAVE to be cut- that councils will have to peg back on their salaries dramatically-
that the conservatives will put country before party to get us out of this mess.

Then NO MORE custard pie politics at PMQ's just ask six different questions to prove to the people how useless Brown is!

TIME FOR ACTION THIS DAY. CAMERON.

[The Bishop Swine]

And all this is being achieved without much in the way of policies. I think it says more about how unpopular Nulabour is than how well we are doing. Never the less and on the recent evidence it really is looking like its our election to win. Having won the battle of ideas its now time for us to have some.

[josh]

"I think it is about time we started turning some our fire,towards the Libs,it is easy to crush them,just mention the Lisbon Treaty & there policy on the Euro"

hahahahahahahahahhahaha, you should be on stage with comments like that. Think before you type.

[Richard]

We should also remember,we to our cost suffered it,tactical voting,the polls can't tell us that.

If Labour are dispised,the whole opposition will want rid,and in key contests will vote accordindly.

One more thing,as strange as it may seem to us,there is still a stigma to voting Tory since 1997,Opinion Polls almost every time have uneresimated the Tory actual votes cast,about 3% of people vote Tory,who don't admit it,to pollsters.

[David (One of many)]

The LDs seem to be going through that stage again when the public is made to think Vince Cable is their leader. Not that he's spoken much sense on the economy of late; he just gets such a cozy welcome and so much gushing praise from the media. It's annoying to see the Tory percentage slip - purely on the basis of polls forming a narrative, rather than them reflecting anything other than the opinion of 1,000 odd people. But I think it'll start going up again soon.

[Perdix]

The Bishop Swine 19.34 - for Conservative policies go to www.conservatives.com/Policy.aspx

[Tony Makara]

Let's face it, the Conservative leadership has no plan to fight this recession because it did not see this recession coming, it expected to inherit a pay-off from growth.

A Conservative government could promise to boost the economy by allowing all new business to operate free of the tax regime for a considerable time so that new business can build a sustainable job-creating infrastructure.

There should also be special tax status awarded to manufacturers in order to re-balance the economy. Low-earners should be taken out of the tax-regime altogether and the bizarre tax-credit system abolished.

There has to be a radical response with job-creation at the heart of economic policy. A Conservative government should create 12 month public works programmes, as it did under Margaret Thatcher, to alleviate unemployment, particularly among the young and those that head young families, to maintain living-standards and to avoid the danger of alienation and social breakdown.

[David (One of many)]

... And I'm only guessing here, but we've slipped in the polls for a couple of weeks despite - I think - not putting too many feet wrong. I wonder if the 'blame the bankers' theme of the last few weeks might have had something to do with this - not just for the Tories, but for Labour as well. But the LDs, with their hemp trousers, cuddly image, and Vince beaming away, benefit from lack of association - however daft that association may actually be.

[Ted]

In 1983 we won a huge majority on not much more than this poll shows.

Why?

Because of a split opposition. The more LDs take from Labour then, providing we stay around 40% we win and we win handsomely.

David Cameron said two years ago it would be a boat race, sometimes we would pull well ahead, others would see a Labour surge. Well Labour have tired, their cox is useless at giving direction but we should continue at a steady stroke rate and we will cross the line well ahead.

[Afleitch]

A 16 point lead here folks. What we know from this poll and polls during the Labour autumn surge is that we have a floor of 40% and that is something to be thankful of.

[David Belchamber]

Maybe, Ted:

"Well Labour have tired, their cox is useless at giving direction but we should continue at a steady stroke rate and we will cross the line well ahead".

It is one thing to win, quite another thing to sort out the mess we will inherit from Nulabour.

We now have to work to DESERVE to govern; that means having the strongest possible economic team and then working out the policy - which will differ from Brown's - to bring us out of recesssion and back onto the path of gradual but steady growth.

[Richard]

I have read on UK Polling Report,there is another poll due tonight,could be very interesting.

[David_at_Home]

"For Conservative policies go to www.conservatives.com/Policy.aspx"

Yes, I have read them all - Motherhood and Apple Pie - devised to offend no-one but not fit for a future government of the UK.

As posted above, the current Tory team did not see the recession / depression coming and, until but a few months ago, were still banging on about “sharing the proceeds of growth”. The Tory Party, just like the Banks, needs new leadership.

[Steve Tierney]

Even though a split opposition it obviously great for us, I still feel very uncomfortable about the rise of the LibDems.

Simply because they are such a washout party. No ideas, no common sense, nothing. All they do is try to sell whatever the public want to hear at any given time.

It's a sad day if Labour are overtaken by them. Despite my disagreeing with everything Labour ever say, they were a party with real principles and real passion once. To be overtaken by the sandal-brigade is a tragic fall from grace.

[Mark Williams]

I very much doubt that the Conservatives will poll much more than this before the next General Election. It is after all nearly 20 years since this country has seen a Conservative government that was not mired in scandal or riven with internal disputes. Many under 40's are quite alien to the idea of voting Conservative even if they distrust the government.

A few years of good government should change that.

[The Bishop Swine]

Perdix

thanks for the link, but that wasn't really what I meant. Certainly there are a few good ideas among this frankly very thin list. What I mean are real "today" policies for tackling the very big problems that labour has inflicted on us. Were are the big projects that would get people back to work. The strong reforms that would reduce welfare dependency. The policies we have were put together at a different time when our problems seemed relatively slight. Some of what we currently have are little more than slogans. To make the Nation better we will have to come up with something more than community work for the feckless. By the time DC gets the door key to No.10 we might well have 3.5 Million unemployed condemned to grinding and possible long term poverty. What are we going to do about Pensions, how do we undue what Brown has done? Prisons how are we going to deal with the upsurge in crime that always comes with mass unemployment? How many prisons are we commited to build? How many extra policemen? how many Nurses? The NHS what is our policy? We will be starting to see the start of the extra demand on the system from the baby-boomers. Massive problems in need of solving. Currently as one poster on this thread has said we have "apple pie" policies, from a period when the Conservatives winning was "pie in the sky" I think we owe the nation something far more radical than the tinkering that have so far been suggested.

[Matthew Reynolds]

I agree with the desire to bring back David Davis , John Redwood and Sir Malcolm Rifkind. All those three are brilliant politicians ! I think that after the big defeats that I hope Gordon Brown faces in the Euro & local elections which I think are in June this year that he panics and goes for a 'Night Of The Long Knives ' type reshuffle. Our Leader can then say that in view of such a big government overhaul he has to alter his pledge that the present Shadow Team would be the one to take the Tories into the next general election.

We could see the back of Andrew Lansley, Francis Maude , Oliver Letwin , Theresa May , Andrew Mitchell , Dominic Grieve and David Willetts. If that shower do not sharpen their presently feeble performance then culling them in a reshuffle to take on a stronger Labor team would make sense.

As an experienced former minister of sound Thatcher style principles Dr Fox could combine writing our manifesto with preparing the Conservatives for government by being Policy Director and Cabinet Office Spokesman. Sir Malcolm could be an excellent Shadow Defense Secretary owing to all his experience at the MOD & FCO - we need that in the Shadow Cabinet. John Redwood wrote that superb booklet on Healthy Choices and is very hardworking. His views on health policy go with human nature and could claim that his ideas where a logical extension of what Alan Johnson is doing (i.e. devolving more power & greater choice make things better in our hospitals so lets have more of it). He could be Shadow Health Secretary as John Redwood would excel in the role. Alan Johnson would hate having to face John Redwood who could expose Labor failings while offering a proper and popular Conservative health policy.

David Davis could be the Shadow Justice Secretary to fight for our civil liberties against an authoritarian Brown Government and thus seal the deal with Lib Dem voters who share his views on keeping our freedoms intact.David Davis vs Jack Straw would be an epic slug-fest - Straw would hate to face David Davis in view of the ministerial careers that Mr Davis has destroyed.

Merging the Schools brief with the Universities & Skills would mean a well deserved promotion for the very effective Michael Gove. It would streamline the shadow cabinet while showing that that the Tories would merge cabinet departments when in office to cut Whitehall down to size. Mr Gove could do a fine job dealing with universities & skills as he has done with schools.

Eleanor Laing was fine as Shadow Scottish Secretary unlike James Gray or David Mundell - so bringing her back would be wise. Cheryl Gillian has been a junior FCO & DFID Shadow Spokesman at junior level and she was fine. Cheryl Gillian would be very good as Shadow International Development Secretary - meaning that the superb Nigel Evans could return to being Shadow Welsh Secretary. His track record under William Hague & IDS suggest that he would be first-class in that post.

Damien Green would be great at Work & Pensions as he is well known for being on the left of the party while having backed Mr Davis in the 2005 leadership battle. He would be well placed to say to Labor & Lib Dem voters how right-wing welfare policies could produce the more equal society that such people want to see. Promoting Mr Green , Eleanor Laing and Sir Malcolm Rifkind would balance the return of Davis , Redwood and Evans. The return of the superb Mr Green would undermine any claims that this reshuffle meant a lurch to the right by demonstrating unity (i.e. that a Davis supporting pro-European had rejoined the Shadow Cabinet). Offering promotions to the under-valued Cheryl Gillan and the brilliant Michael Gove will enable them to push the Tory case very effectively and would not deter swing voters from voting Tory.

We need a smaller & more experienced shadow cabinet so that we can counter the claim that we have light-weight leadership. My feeling is that certain mediocre people should be on probation between now & June. If they carry on failing then there are better people who can improve the Tory situation just waiting in the wings.

Replacing the invisible Caroline Spelman who only gets any publicity when she messes up over her expenses with the successful Justine Greening would not be a bad idea. Miss Greening was very effective over motoring taxes when at the Shadow Treasury Team and do an equally fantastic job over the Council Tax as Shadow Local Government Secretary.

We have had one reshuffle but it left too many first rate people in the wrong places and too many failures in prominent posts. Another raft of front-bench changes might be needed a few months down the road. We need shadow spokesman who want to win office - if certain people cannot do that by June then to tackle the stronger team that the PM could appoint after the European Elections the Maude's & Letwin's might have to be replaced by proven winners.

[The Wilted Rose]

This is a fantastic poll - and there are some interesting trends in the detailed data. I've just blogged about this at length but here's a summary:

- Northern England ++ 8 point Tory lead ++ - C 37%, L 29%, LD 25%, BNP 2%.

- 39 points ahead in Southern England (C 56, L 17, LD 17, Green 6)

- 10 point lead in the Midlands (C 36, L 26, LD 26, BNP 6),

- 22 point lead in Wales/South West (C 48, L 26, LD 20)

- Scotland (C 9, L 38, LD 17, SNP 24, others 11).

- ‘No British Need Apply’ has dented Labour in one of its remaining English heartlands. Only in Scotland is it ahead.

- 21 point Tory lead in the DE social group (C 48, L 27, LD 18).

Time for the Northern Strategy to go into full throttle.

[Tony Makara]

"To make the Nation better we will have to come up with something more than community work for the feckless. By the time DC gets the door key to No.10 we might well have 3.5 Million unemployed condemned to grinding and possible long term poverty."

Bishop Swine, very true sir. We can begin by producing for our own market, particularly manufactured goods and foodstuffs. This of course will take measures to support British producers, politicians will have to bite the bullet and give British business the first-option when it comes to access to the British market.

This of course will create a conflict of interests with the EU, but, how about EU leaders putting their heads together and reaching agreements on the movement of migrant labour and trade, so that each can shore up its share of its own domestic market while still engaging in mutually beneficial trade?

We are largely in this mess because we are no longer a nation that produces and feeds itself. This is more than an economic crisis, it is a matter of national security.

If Mr Balls is correct, and this is the worst downturn for a hundred years, who knows what political demons it may unleash. If mainstream politicians continue to allow Britain to drift, others will emerge to offer solutions.

We have to make Britain into a productive nation again, one that pays its own way. The era of the sprawling service sector is dead, the credit that fed that artificial economy has dried up. Excess has cost us dearly. Its time to cut up the credit card, time to pick up the shovel and the scythe, time to dig our way out of this mess, through industry and hard work.

[Richard]

What we should do is pretty simple,we should say we will balance the budget,if you do that everything else pretty much takes care of its self.

For those on here,that seem to be Liberals,or Labour,you have your own forums,saying what will the Tories do different for the economy,well let them see the books and they could tell you,what are supposed to do guess what the scale of the likes of PFI debt is,there is so much debt off the books,all they would be doing is guessing.

We have not had a balanced budget since 2002,Labour came in in 1997,followed 2 years of Tory spending rules,that took them up to close to the millenium,that means 12 years into a Labour Governemnt they have had deficits for 10 of 12 years.

Seeing as those deficits were accumilated on the back of GDP figures boosted by bogus lending,the GDP was false,and therefore the borrowing based for the GDP growth.

[Richard]

It's not difficult to get 3% GDP growth,when the Economy is doing well,due to the world economy and inflation being taken care of by China,if we grow a 3% and have a deficit of 2% per annum,we are really growing at 1%.

If you have a balanced budget,then get 2-3% GDP growth you are doing your job as chancellor,if you are doing what Brown has done for a decade,and what Obama is doing now in USA,all you are doing to be crude about it is buying your own GDP,with borrowed money,and that is economics of the madhouse.

[The Bishop Swine]

"What we should do is pretty simple,we should say we will balance the budget,if you do that everything else pretty much takes care of its self."

I agree, but of course I also recognise that this will be painful. We should not be scared of cutting labours "pink er white elephants" That NHS supercomputer, and their riduclously over ambitious ID card scheme. It's easy to come up with a few billions but were on earth is the rest of the savings going to come from. A pay freeze for the public sector seems a no-brainer but of course it would be unpopular. If we are going to balance the budget then we will have to do it early in our first term. Get the pain out of the way and hopefully we will be in a position to relax the constants a little before the next general election. I would privatise some of the prison service, that would produce a large saving and hopefully attract investment. Further rationing in the NHS is essential if we are to maintain a useful service. Turning tax credits back into a means tested benefit might save a few millions. I know it would be unpopular but I would certainly do exactly the same to child benefit. Universal benefits are a luxury we can no longer afford. Of course I am not privy to all of the facts and figures but I would hope that large savings could be found in the civil service. I think we will all have to suffer a bit, rather than allowing some people to suffer a lot. At least that would be my hope.
Unfortunately I do not see much scope for tax cuts inside the first three years.

[oldrightie]

Nice steady progress. Not quite enough but we seem to be getting there. Where is there? The destruction of Labour for at least the rest of my lifetime.

[Richard]

TBS

What we need to do is get things,I hate to say this'BACK TO BASICS'the national economy is the same as a family budget,and should be treated as such,family's live within their constraints,and so should Government.

The main problem with the UK since 1997 is this.

WALES 60%
SCOTLAND 55%
N-IRELAND 70%

Those above figures,represent the Government therefore the taxpayer part of the constituate countries GDP,they are Communist level spending rates,if you are in work in SC/WA/NI,there is a good chance you work for the Governemnt.

Apart from N-Ireland,which for obvious reasons is different,this is economically ridiculous.

[Silent Hunter]

I really can't believe that you Tories still can't understand what we are all crying out for in this country.

FFS?...............It's not rocket science!

We want.........in no particular order..........

1. Fairness in society. An end to the feckless getting everything handed to them on a plate whilst people who work are hammered for ever more tax to pay for it. Balance that with help for those who DO really need it.

2. An end to the parliamentary perks culture in our Government and Civil Service.
Clear out ALL the Tories who have their snouts in the trough and for God's sake be brutal about it..........SHOW US that you're different to Labour..........It's obviously not clear to the electorate that you ARE different; or the polls would be much higher in your favour.

3. An end to useless managers and bankers paying themselves handsomely for doing a crap job. Make them pay back every last penny of their bonuses and perks.
How many of your own so-called core vote falls into this category?
Ditch them!...........They only harm you in the eyes of ordinary voters struggling to pay their mortgages and bills.

4. An end to repressive government trying to spy on everything that we do in our lives.
Follow up on David Davis' stand..........Don't just Tut Tut as this repressive ZaNuLabour Party tries to remove ALL our Freedoms which were so hard fought for by better generations than us.........for God's sake; GET ANGRY ABOUT IT!
Say you WON'T accept it!
Pledge to reverse all the crass, Stassi like laws that Labour have brought in.........BE PREPARED TO BE COURAGEOUS........forget the bloody focus groups..........READ THE BLOODY BLOGS!......they will tell you more at a glance than any number of pointless focus groups.

5. We want an end to escalating armaments - what the hell do we need a Nuclear Arsenal for?.........we, nor any of the other stupid F*ckWhits who have them, can ever use them without destroying everything anyway.............It's M.A.D.! in all senses of the meaning.

6. Get rid of FPTP voting!
It's totally undemocratic that 20% of a popular vote can earn you a 100 seat majority in the Primary Legislative Chamber of our Country. How can a few thousand votes in a few marginals deciding the fate of millions be fair?

Give us PR and restore a true democracy to this country.

That WOULD be courageous!

7. Don't be afraid to make mistakes!
If you are in error about something............Say so!
The public are not stupid despite what the tabloid press would have us all believe............ignore the underclass opinion..........listen to the educated people of this country for a change.

ABOVE ALL...............PROVE TO US that you are no longer the Tories of yore who we remember as being , uncaring, greedy, self serving, corrupt and sleazy.
Everything that this current Labour Party ARE.

SHOW us that you ARE different........don't just 'tell' us that you've changed............SHOW us that you've changed by what you DO; words are cheap.........ACTIONS are what count.

[Silent Hunter]

I really can't believe that you Tories still can't understand what we are all crying out for in this country.

FFS?...............It's not rocket science!

We want.........in no particular order..........

1. Fairness in society. An end to the feckless getting everything handed to them on a plate whilst people who work are hammered for ever more tax to pay for it. Balance that with help for those who DO really need it.

2. An end to the parliamentary perks culture in our Government and Civil Service.
Clear out ALL the Tories who have their snouts in the trough and for God's sake be brutal about it..........SHOW US that you're different to Labour..........It's obviously not clear to the electorate that you ARE different; or the polls would be much higher in your favour.

3. An end to useless managers and bankers paying themselves handsomely for doing a crap job. Make them pay back every last penny of their bonuses and perks.
How many of your own so-called core vote falls into this category?
Ditch them!...........They only harm you in the eyes of ordinary voters struggling to pay their mortgages and bills.

4. An end to repressive government trying to spy on everything that we do in our lives.
Follow up on David Davis' stand..........Don't just Tut Tut as this repressive ZaNuLabour Party tries to remove ALL our Freedoms which were so hard fought for by better generations than us.........for God's sake; GET ANGRY ABOUT IT!
Say you WON'T accept it!
Pledge to reverse all the crass, Stassi like laws that Labour have brought in.........BE PREPARED TO BE COURAGEOUS........forget the bloody focus groups..........READ THE BLOODY BLOGS!......they will tell you more at a glance than any number of pointless focus groups.

5. We want an end to escalating armaments - what the hell do we need a Nuclear Arsenal for?.........we, nor any of the other stupid F*ckWhits who have them, can ever use them without destroying everything anyway.............It's M.A.D.! in all senses of the meaning.

6. Get rid of FPTP voting!
It's totally undemocratic that 20% of a popular vote can earn you a 100 seat majority in the Primary Legislative Chamber of our Country. How can a few thousand votes in a few marginals deciding the fate of millions be fair?

Give us PR and restore a true democracy to this country.

That WOULD be courageous!

7. Don't be afraid to make mistakes!
If you are in error about something............Say so!
The public are not stupid despite what the tabloid press would have us all believe............ignore the underclass opinion..........listen to the educated people of this country for a change.

ABOVE ALL...............PROVE TO US that you are no longer the Tories of yore who we remember as being , uncaring, greedy, self serving, corrupt and sleazy.
Everything that this current Labour Party ARE.

SHOW us that you ARE different........don't just 'tell' us that you've changed............SHOW us that you've changed by what you DO; words are cheap.........ACTIONS are what count.

[YMT]

@Silent Hunter

Didn't your mother ever teaching you using Caps is bad manners? also wall'o'rant'o'text = lol....

anyway!

YouGov poll is very different

CONSERVATIVES 44% (+1)
LABOUR 32% (nc)
LIB DEMS 14% (-2)

[The Wilted Rose]

Re YouGov, probably a rogue poll as it is surveyed online and may underrepresent the types of voters who have switched.

Three other recent polls have shown a Labour collapse and a LD surge.

[RichardJ]

"YouGov poll is very different"

Interesting, Yougov tends to be the most accurate but in other polls there has been a consistent swing to the Lib Dems.

[josh]

Your quite right. YouGov is usually the most accurate. ComRes isn't worth the paper it is wrote on (as stated on here a thousand times by many different postees).

"The Sunday Times’s YouGov poll however paints a far more static picture. The topline figures, with changes from YouGov’s last poll, are CON 44%(+1),Lab 32%(nc), Lib 14%(-2)."

Source UK polling report.

[christina Speight]

This must be dreadful news for Labour but the Tories have no reason to be complacent. It all depends on WHERE these extra LibDem votes are. It could possibly work out that by piling up more votes in some seats they will prevent the Tories winning in that seat. Of course the reverse could happen elsewhere. When the detailed figures are available one should be able to see exactly where and who afre these new LibDem voters.

The key question for Cameron is how tro get across a coherent economic policy. My own hunch is that a really harsh assessment and a warning of necessary cuts would in fact 'play well' - better than their present imprecision [ Alright - flabbiness! ] . I don't think it is anything to do with being softer and appealing to women as Melissa Kite in tomorrows Telegraph suggests.

[john]

Two good polls for the Tories.
The usual negative reaction from ConHome regulars.
Yawn.
Go to politicalbetting.com for a more representative Tory view.

[josh]

Well I'm off to go and sleep.

Well done with these polls Tories, looks like we are going to have to go back to the drawing board. This is going to be an interesting build up to an election. Once again, well done.

Goodnight.

[Silent Hunter]

@ YMCA:

Sorry, young man?

What was that you were SAYING!

Oh that's right...........you weren't saying anything of relevance.

anyway!

Thanks for repeating the figures that we've ALL seen previously.......anyway! Time for bed for you .....young man.

Now...........would any of the adult Tories like to address the points I raised earlier?

[Tommy]

Silent Hunter:

Kindly do not tell me what I do and do not want.

"We want an end to escalating armaments"

The defense budget is being cut as a proportion of our gdp as it has since the end of world war 2.

"what the hell do we need a Nuclear Arsenal for?.........we, nor any of the other stupid F*ckWhits who have them, can ever use them without destroying everything anyway.............It's M.A.D.! in all senses of the meaning."

Ignorance, pure and simple.

A trident II submarine launched inter-continental ballistic missile can take out an entire country without a single life being lost. How? EMP.

[Tommy]

"ignore the underclass opinion..........listen to the educated people of this country for a change."

I can't believe that you actually wrote this.

[Conspiracy]

If the Tories want to move beyond the 40% than perhaps they should try being Conservatives instead of BluLabour...

[Silent Hunter]

Tommy:

Forgive me Tommy - but clearly I wasn't speaking to you, I was speaking to Conservatives with an open mind, like Conspiracy.

Your counter to my point about our own nuclear deterrent (sic) is somewhat baffling..........

Quote: "A trident II submarine launched inter-continental ballistic missile can take out an entire country without a single life being lost."

So an "entire country" can be "taken out" without a "single life being lost" ? Just read that sentence through to yourself again; slowly.

Forgive me........but I can't believe that you actually wrote that.

Were you trying to be ironic perhaps?

[YMT]

@Silent Hunter

Not witty replies is not witty, maybe you should work on how to type first, also gather from other sites where you've just "appeared" and in one case comment Dollys site is freedom of speech loving shinning example of bloggery it's obvious your a trash troll. But this is the internetz and I'll happily oblige in trolling you back.

Also poll is good, people should get a grip although it's hard to know who's a Labour employed RRU poster and who's not these days.

[steve foley]

I am a subscriber to You Gov and answer its Polls on the Internet. I would say it is likely to be as accurate as a pretty girl in the high street with a clipboard as the respondent can take their time to answer in the privacy of their own home and will not be embarrassed about giving an answer as they could well be face to face. In the past there have been many people who have been diffident about saying that they support the Conservatives when asked publicly.

My concern is the rise in the Lib-Dem vote, some of which has come from the Tories. They could be spoilers in the event of a General Election in some seats. I agree that it is time for the Conservative Party to attack them and their REAL Leader Vince Cable and not the glove puppet Clegg.

[Tommy]

"Forgive me Tommy - but clearly I wasn't speaking to you, I was speaking to Conservatives with an open mind, like Conspiracy."

I'm not a conservative, I'm a floating voter that supports multi-lateral nuclear disarmament. I don't, however, support anything else you said that 'we' want and I belive that we who support disarmament deserve better arguments than the ones that you have spouted.

"So an "entire country" can be "taken out" without a "single life being lost" ? Just read that sentence through to yourself again; slowly."

Seeing as you clearly dont understand nuclear physics or its military applications I will elabourate:

An entire government and military, along with military and civilian infrastructure, for example satellites, power stations, telecommunications etc can be taken out without a single life being lost, on either side, civilian or military.

By detonating a trident II misile before it reaches its target, during its 2nd flight phase, ie when it is the upper atmosphere above a country, will cause a surge in electromagnetic radiation destroying everything with an electric circuit. No damage from an explosion, no nuclear fallout, no harmful radiation.

Didn't you ever see goldeneye?

[Ross Warren]

"What we need now is a groundbreaking economic policy."

This one sentence says it all, as far as I'm concerned.

[A Reformed Labour Voter]

The electorate is not convinced by the Tories on the economy.

Well they wouldn't be would they?

The answer is that we have to pay off hundred's of Billions of pounds of New Labour debt - official and all that hidden by PFI, save our currency, fight off the passing of sovereignty to the EU, resolve Pension Apartheid, slim down a bloated and massively expensive Public Sector and then rebuild an entire economy.

There is no policy that will sort that out.

It's a process. A long, tough journey. And it's going to hurt lots of people. No slick sound bites. Not sexy. Not pretty.

It's a case of win the election and get to work.

[cosmic]

"The answer is that we have to pay off hundred's of Billions of pounds of New Labour debt - official and all that hidden by PFI,........ "

Yes, but it's a good idea to tell people clearly what the position is and why and what's involved in fixing it. For instance, the public sector pensions liability has to be addressed.

People may like to think that the current mess, which has taken years to get into, can be sorted out without pain. Pretending that it can makes election victory easier, but it's a recipe for disaster.

[Onthejob]

in the Mail on Saturday (sorry) Peter Oborne wrote a very interesting piece about the simalrities between the 1930s and this Recesion/depression following on from Ed balls remarks. it is a good read

now while i don't think the result will be quite the same i have found the result from the 1931 general election it makes for interstinf reading
Party votes % mps
Conservative Party 11,905,298 55.0 470
Liberal Party 1,372,595 6.5 32
National Liberals 809,302 3.7 35
Labour Party 6,649,630 30.9 52
Communist Party 74,824 0.3 0
Irish Nationalists 123,053 0.3 2
National Party 100,193 0.5 4
National Labour 341,370 1.5 13
Independent Liberal 103,528 0.5 4

Sadly i think the comparison stops with the the current economic difficulty's