More bad news for the PM

THE SUNDAY Times claims that the Prime Minister's 'relaunch' has failed. Miserably.

Now on 45%, the Tories lead Labour by a comprehensive 20 points. The poll claims that the Prime Minister is as unpopular as John Major was.

However, one of the most interesting aspects of the polls was this:

People say they are spending less on clothes, eating out and other non-essentials and are checking supermarket prices more often. More than nine in 10 say they are “ripped off” by energy companies.

The government is also getting the blame for the economy’s woes. Brown said last week he was the man to steer the economy through the crisis but two-thirds of people, 65%, blame him at least in part for the problems. The long lead that Labour enjoyed on “competence” — whom voters most trust to run the economy — has disappeared.

I fully expect the government to continue to exploit the fact that people feel "ripped off" by energy companies. With rising bills, the government will continue to blame the private sector, despite the fact that they are merely passing on charges and taxes that the government has hit them with, as well as the obvious fluctuations in the international market.

I also find some comfort in the fact that the public have failed to take Brown's bait and refused to blame international factors for Britain's economic malaise. Sorry General Public, I have again found some faith in you.