TRUST ERODING

By RAY FLEMING THERE was little comfort for Tony Blair in the two opinion polls published in Britain yesterday and on Monday. Yet there was even less comfort for Iain Duncan Smith. It would be roughly correct to say that these two polls showed that Britain is being run by a man in whom the country is losing trust but the principal alternative to him is thought unlikely to win the next election even by members of his own party. The monthly Guardian ICM poll taken last weekend asked its usual question: If there were a general election tomorrow which party would you vote for? 36 per cent said Labour, down from 41 per cent in May; 34 per cent said Conservative, up from 29 per cent in May. The Liberal Democrats plodded along at 22 per cent, up a fraction on May. Labour's lead has therefore fallen by 10 per cent in two months. Within these figures, which are really just a simple expression of gut feeling about the present state of the political scene, there are two others that stand out: only 13 per cent of all voters believe that the Conservatives can win the next election and only 30 per cent of their party members believe it is possible. BY contrast, 63 per cent of Labour voters are convinced their party will win next time. In a series of questions the YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph tried to find out how far people still trusted Mr Blair and his Government. Asked whether he had, on balance, been trustworthy and honest, 60 per cent said No and 27 per cent Yes. Cue for Charles Kennedy?