SNP & Labour 'Neck And Neck' For Westminster

Thanks to a tip off from a commenter on another post (Cheers, Tom), I've been alerted to the Scottish sample of a Channel 4/YouGov poll which makes for very interesting reading. Usual disclaimers apply re sample sizes, but with the Scottish sample putting Labour on 38%, the Tories on 14%, the Lib Dems on just 9% and the 'others' (it's a UK poll...) on 39%, it can't fail to furrow Brown's brow as he contemplates an election this weekend.

The UK figures don't make much better reading, with Labour on 40, the Tories on 36 and the Lib Dems on 13. Meanwhile, another poll for The Times has Labour on 39 - down 2; The Tories on 36 per cent - up five; and the Lib Dems on 15 per cent- down two.

Fair do's, as dougthedug points out straight after, Scotland might not be crucial to Brown's calculations. But taken with a swing back to the Tories in England over the conference season and seemingly unstoppable momentum building for an election, it looks like the best Brown can hope for is to scrape home on a reduced majority. Ah, well - you reap what you sow :-)