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| Monday, 31 January 2005 |
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Immigration touches nerve with British voters LONDON, Sunday (AFP) Immigration could be a lightning rod for Britain's upcoming general election, according to a poll published Sunday showing over two-thirds of respondents unhappy with the government's handle on the issue. Seventy-one percent of those polled felt Prime Minister Tony Blair's government had insufficient control over illegal immigration, and 41 percent said the issue could prompt them to change the way they are planning to vote in the poll expected on May 5. But the survey, taken for the Independent on Sunday, also showed Blair's Labour Party with its firm lead unassailed, capturing 40 percent of votes for a 146-seat majority in the House of Commons. Labour currents has a 161-seat majority in the 659-seat lower chamber of parliament. The main opposition Conservatives, which has promised tougher immigration controls, slid two points in standing from a similar survey taken last month, to finish with 32 percent of votes. Like Labour, the Liberal Democrats gained one percentage point in standing since the last poll, with 20 percent of respondants giving them their intended vote. Conservative leader Michael Howard unleashed an aggressive immigration platform last week, pledging strict controls and quotas for refugees, as well as bolstered border controls. He also said his party, if it took power, would withdraw Britain from the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees.But speaking out on a sensitive issue has apparently not helped Howard, since the survey saw Labour's advance widen by three points since last month. The poll of 1,008 adults was conducted by CommunicateResearch by telephone on January 26 and 27. Another poll, carried out by MORI and published in The Observer on Sunday, saw Labour winning 38 percent of the vote, with 32 percent for the Conservatives and 22 percent for the Liberal Democrats. It also said Howard was the most unpopular opposition leader approaching a general election in 20 years. A third poll, executed by ICM for the conservative Sunday Telegraph, predicted Blair would win with a narrower five-point lead. |
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