Two big stories
Flood crisis worstens in Philippines
From the BBC:
The Philippines government says 240 people are now known to have died in severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana.
The country has appealed for foreign aid to deal with the disaster, which has displaced more than 450,000 people.
A rare moment of hope for Gordon Brown
For the first time in… a very long time, Gordon Brown may be relieved by some polling news from Sky and YouGov:
Support for Labour has climbed five points since the start of the party conference, according to a brand new Sky/YouGov poll.
The survey – the first in a daily series that will continue through to the end of the Conservative Party conference – puts the party on 29% up from 24%.
The Conservatives are still 10 points ahead on 39% but they and the Lib Dems (20%) have each dropped by one per cent.
The news suggests a reversal of Lib Dem support after conference, but most of all – as Mike Smithson notes – shows the effect of the media on dailypolling changes.
Two must-read posts
Jonathan Calder argued that New Labour’s obssesion with anti-social behaviour has helped make us all less safe. And he’s right.
Stephen Glenn considered yesterday’s more hopeful news of Lib Dem poll support overtaking Labour.
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“Support for Labour has climbed five points since the start of the party conference, according to a brand new Sky/YouGov poll.”
But as Anthony Wells points out, Labour was higher still according to a one-day poll by the same company a week earlier – 1-2 days into the Lib Dem conference. He comments that one-day polls are an innovation, and implies that there could be some bias according to which day of the week the polling is conducted.
http://www.yougov.co.uk/today/
Incidentally, he is also reporting a new MORI poll which puts the Lib Dems in second place:
CON 36%(-7), LAB 24%(-2), LDEM 25%(+8).
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2284
Isnt it a bit surprising that the Liberal Democrat press office didnt make something of this – the first time Labour are bottom of an opinion poll since 1982?
Who reported, and what poll, came out the other day showing that we were on 23 per cent and neck and neck equals with Labour? Odd this didnt even make the Voice.
However, its pretty clear the polls are all over the place right now.
“He comments that one-day polls are an innovation, and implies that there could be some bias according to which day of the week the polling is conducted.”
But that Labour rating of 29% is still there in today’s YouGov poll, while the Lib Dems drop further to 18%, giving up nearly all the gains made during the conference.