Round up

I had a busy time last week and was on holiday at the weekend, so here's a round up of some of the polls I didn't have chance to write about. YouGov voting intentions in their Sunday poll were CON 40%, LAB 37%, LDEM 15% - that equals the lowest Conservative lead since the general election, but I'd urge the same sort of caution as I did on the 9 point lead earlier in the week. Until we see a consistent trend, it's best to assume it's just normal random variation around a Conservative lead of 6 or 7 points.

YouGov also re-asked who people thought would make the best Labour leader. David Miliband remains ahead on 17%, followed by Diane Abbott on 10%. Amongst Labour voters, who may or may not better reflect the feelings of Labour party members, David Miliband leads with 27%, followed by Ed Balls (13%) and Ed Miliband (12%). Regarding the Labour leadership contest, we are still awaiting any proper polling of party members.

Ipsos MORI's monthly issues trackers has also been published. There are no massive changes - the majority of respondents continue to see the economy as one of the most important issues facing the country, a long way ahead of immigration in second. It is followed by unemployment and law and order.

On other bits and pieces, YouGov did a poll for Channel 5 asking if the Burkha should be banned - 67% of respondents thought it should, with 27% saying it shouldn't. That's broadly in line with a international comparative study that Pew carried out in May and published this month, which found 62% of British respondents approved of a ban on viels that cover the whole face. This compared to 82% in France, 71% in Germany, 59% in Spain and 28% in the USA.

There was also a YouGov poll of Londoners last week asking about the protest encampments upon Parliament square. 20% believed there should be no restrictions upon the right of protest in Parliament Square, 72% thought there should be limits upon long term encampments.