BRITAIN: The Conservatives go into the second full week of the British election campaign battling to show themselves still in contention against growing poll predictions of a third Labour landslide on May 5th.
One poll yesterday for The Sunday Times suggested Labour's lead narrowing to just one point, enough to give prime minister Tony Blair a drastically reduced majority of about 50 seats in the next House of Commons.
However, a Sunday Telegraph poll showed Labour widening its lead over the Conservatives to a full 10 points - 40 per cent to 30 per cent - with a predicted majority of more than 158 seats, only seven fewer than in 2001. Another poll in the News of the World delivered the specific message that the Conservatives have so far failed to make any political impact in crucial marginals.
Here estimating a Labour majority of 152 seats, ICM's poll also confirmed that the Lib Dems so-called "decapitation" strategy could cost top Tories like David Davis and Oliver Letwin their seats. But the Conservatives shrugged-off the bad news yesterday as they detailed their plans for a tax cut to reward people who save for their pensions.
Leader Michael Howard said they would use £1.7 billion of tax cuts of £4 billion to tackle Britain's "pensions timebomb", in an initiative aimed at 10 million working people who do not currently save for their retirement.
Michael Howard and shadow pensions minister David Willetts said the plan showed the Conservatives wanted to tackle the long-term problems facing Britain, while suggesting Labour was only interested in winning votes.
However, as the Conservatives revealed the first instalment of their modest tax-cutting plan, the polls again suggested it is Labour which is benefiting while the economy, and chancellor Gordon Brown, dominate the election agenda. Only a third of the polling was conducted after Friday's announcement of MG Rover's collapse, although there was no evidence from those interviewed of a smaller Labour lead than earlier in the week, much as there was no sign that Labour's reputation had been particularly damaged by the original news of the Rover crisis the week before.
