Tory Poll Surge Batters Brown

PM accused of cowardice, lack of vision as opponents soar in polls
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 14, 2007 12:32 PM CDT
Tory Poll Surge Batters Brown
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown gives a statement on Iraq in this image taken from TV at the House of Commons in London Monday Oct. 8, 2007. Brown said Monday Britain will make a major troop withdrawal from Iraq next year, cutting its contingent starting in the spring to 2,500 soldiers. (AP...   (Associated Press)

British PM Gordon Brown took a beating this week as a new poll showed the opposition Tories surging to their highest levels of popular support in 15 years, and even some Labourites came out of the woodwork to attack his vision for the future. Support for the Conservatives rose 5 points to 43%, compared with 36%  for Brown's Labour Party, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Factional squabbles with Tony Blair loyalists—who charged that Brown has shown leadership but not vision—dogged Brown, as did charges of cowardice for his last-minute decision not to call elections this fall. Tory leader David Cameron accused Brown of duplicitous "scheming." Cameron's party soared in popularity after introducing policy initiatives focused on inheritance taxes and designed to appeal to middle-class voters. (More Gordon Brown stories.)

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