Labour under pressure as Tories just 2% behind

Labour's election campaign took a heavy jolt today as another opinion poll showed the Tories catching up.

A Mori survey in the Financial Times said Tony Blair's lead had been cut to only two per cent. This comes two days after a survey put the gap at three points.

Taken together, the polls appear to show voters are being won over by Michael Howard's winter offensive on tax cuts, immigration and slashing council tax bills for pensioners. The findings will jangle nerves at Labour HQ.

It suggests Mr Blair's counter-attack has fallen flat, despite his headline-grabbing helicopter charge across the country to launch six election pledges. And it will raise questions about the effectiveness of the Prime Minister's "punchbag strategy", which saw him allow members of the public to criticise his record on live television.

Mori put Labour on 39 per cent, with the Tories closing in at 37 per cent and the Liberal Democrats at 18 per cent.

The poll found immigration and asylum was the biggest single issue - ranked as important by almost a quarter of voters.

It gave the Tories their best popularity rating in a Mori poll since July 2003, when Iain Duncan Smith was leader. The improvement delighted Conservative campaign chiefs.

However, it is far too little to bring them close to an election victory. Even with a two-point lead Labour would win with a landslide majority estimated at about 96.

The high profile of immigration alarmed Labour MPs. Only half as many voters ranked expected concerns such as health or the Iraq war as their biggest issue.

Mr Blair last week accused the Tories of trying to turn the election into a vote on immigration. But Mori chief Sir Robert Worcester said: "People feel Labour has failed most on tackling illegal immigration."

He predicted an even lower turnout in the general election than in 2001. Young people were even less likely to vote than before.

This would give "grey power" - courted by the Conservatives with promised council tax cuts for pensioners - more influence than ever.