Opinion Polls

'Scotland is not a very attractive place for people to come and settle.' Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Attorney General and Conservative MP for Beaconsfield on Good Morning Scotland, Radio Scotland, March 2005.

From 'Extreme Team'

By Lindsay Mcgarvie, Political Editor, in the Sunday Mail 22 nd February 2005

TONY BLAIR yesterday put the boot into Tory leader Michael Howard by branding him more right-wing than Margaret Thatcher.

Writing exclusively for the Sunday Mail, Blair described Howard as 'more extreme and divisive' than Thatcher.

The Prime Minister's attack comes two weeks before Scottish Labour meet to discuss general election strategy at their conference in Dundee.

Blair warned Howard's Tories would scrap the New Deal job scheme which got 100,000 Scots back into work and abolish Pension Credits worth £2000 to our poorest people.

In his article, Blair pleads with Britain to choose Labour and get prosperity and opportunity for all.

The alternative, he says, is to vote Tory and suffer a boom and bust economy and 'savage cuts to front-line services'.

Blair also warns Scots that devolution won't insulate them from the effects of a Tory government at Westminster.

And he points out that while his party is in touch with the ambitions and concerns of hard-working families, Howard's Tories threaten to reverse many of New Labour's most progressive policies.

He said: 'Many of their policies are now more extreme and divisive than those of the Thatcher government.'

Labour yesterday backed up their leader's damning comparison between Howard and Thatcher by releasing the Tory leader's catalogue of extreme pledges.

Howard wants to run down the NHS and the comprehensive education system, slash £35billion from public spending, privatise Scottish water and establish an arbitrary quota for asylum seekers fleeing persecution.

Meanwhile, a new poll showed Labour have a commanding 28 per cent lead on the SNP among Scots voters.

They dropped just one point on last month to 48 per cent, while the SNP had 20 per cent and the Tories 18.

The Lib Dems fared worst of the main parties, slumping four points in a month to 11 per cent. Blair will also be heartened by the poll's finding that eight out of 10 Scots say that they are planning to vote in the forthcoming general election.

Seventy-seven per cent said they were very likely to vote, while 11 per cent said they were quite likely.

Election expert Dr Peter Lynch, of Stirling University, said yesterday that the result would help Blair make the decision to go for a May poll.

Deputy PM John Prescott recently hinted that the date chosen was likely to be May 5, when local elections are being held.

Dr Lynch said that while the 77 per cent turnout figure is probably exaggerated, it could be a sign that turnout would exceed the 58 per cent of Scots who bothered to vote in 2001.

He added: 'This shows that at least people know that morally they should vote, although whether this many do is another ball game.'

The poll also found that eight out of 10 Scots would rather vote at the traditional polling station.

Three per cent would like to vote by text, nine per cent preferred postal voting and seven per cent chose the internet.