Britain's Chancellor Gordon Brown, the frontrunner to be next prime minister, suffered a double embarrassment today when opponents attacked his handling of pensions on the same day that inflation surged.
Mr Brown, who is expected to take over from Prime Minister Tony Blair in the next few months, was forced to appear in parliament to explain a decision he took 10 years ago which opponents allege has badly weakened Britain's pension system.
In a further blow to Mr Brown's hopes of winning and staying in power, a newspaper poll published today showed Mr Brown's Labour Party sinking to its lowest rating in 13 years - 29 per cent to the opposition Conservatives' 37 per cent.
"(Brown)'s boast of economic competence is unravelling before our eyes," the Conservatives' economic spokesman George Osborne told parliament.
The silver lining for Mr Brown was that Environment Secretary David Miliband, who some Labour members are pushing to challenge Mr Brown for the leadership once Mr Blair goes, said he was not a candidate.
The Conservatives put forward a "no confidence" motion in Mr Brown's handling of pensions during a heated parliamentary debate.
The motion was sure to be defeated because the Labour Party has a comfortable majority, but it was unfortunate timing for Mr Brown on the day that inflation burst through three percent for the first time since 1997, the year Labour came to power.
The inflation surge emboldened the Conservatives who seek to undermine Mr Brown's reputation for solid handling of the economy - a key element in Mr Blair's successive general election wins and one of Mr Brown's main credentials to be prime minister.