THE Conservative poll lead over Labour across the UK has reached 19 points, according to the latest opinion poll.
The YouGov snapshot of 1,598 adults - the first to be taken after the Budget but before the full force of the National Insurance row took hold - puts the Tories on 44 points, up two on last week, and Labour unchanged on 25. Both Ukip on 11 and the Liberal Democrats on 10 have dropped one point.
The growing gap will renew pressure from some Conservative quarters on Prime Minister Theresa May to go for a snap General Election.
The 19-point lead is the largest the Tories have had since 2009 when Gordon Brown’s Government was struggling with the aftermath of the financial crash. It is the biggest lead the Conservatives have had while in power since the days of Margaret Thatcher in the late 1980s.
The snapshot comes as Jeremy Corbyn, the party leader, and John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, are due to speak at Labour’s economic forum in Glasgow tomorrow.
They will be joined at the conference by Alex Rowley, the Scottish Labour Deputy Leader.
The event forms part of a series of public economics conferences that Labour’s Shadow Treasury team will be holding around Britain over the next year, aiming to broaden access and raise the level of debate around economics across the country, as well as inform the policy development process of the Labour Party.
Further conferences will be held this year in Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff.
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