Prime Minister Boris Johnson-led British Conservatives have doubled their lead over the opposition Labour party days after Nigel Farage pulled hundreds of Brexit Party candidates ahead of the December 12 election. The ruling Conservative party now has the support of around 45 percent of the vote, with the left-wing Labour trailing with 28 percent, the latest YouGov poll for the UK’s Sunday Times shows.
On Monday, Nigel Farage announced his decision to stand down Brexit Party candidates in all 317 seats which the ruling Conservative party had won in the last election, vowing to focus his campaign of pro-EU Labour and Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament (MPs) who prevent the Brexit from happening. Later in the week, Farage’s newly-formed party withdrew 43 further candidates, leaving 274 candidates in the fray in the 650-seat contest for the Lower House of the British parliament.
The move is seen as a major boost to Prime Minister Johnson’s prospects of getting a comfortable majority in the House. With hundreds of Farage-backed candidates off the field, the Conservatives can now hope to unify the pro-Brexit vote behind the prime minister who renewed his promise to take Britain out of the European Union.
“All 635 Conservative candidates standing at this election – every single one of them – has pledged to me that if elected they will vote in Parliament to pass my Brexit deal so we can end the uncertainty and finally leave the EU,” Prime Minister said on Saturday.
Reuters also reported similar polling figures showing increased support for Prime Minister Johnson:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has a 16-point lead over the opposition Labour Party, according to an opinion poll published by Opinium Research on Saturday, ahead of next month’s election.Support for the Conservatives stood at 44%, up 3% compared with last week, compared with Labour’s 28%, down 1%. The pro-European Union Liberal Democrats were on 14% and the Brexit Party was on 6%.Opinium surveyed 2,008 people online between Nov. 13 and Nov. 15, after the Brexit Party announced it would not stand in seats held by Conservative members of parliament.
The boost for the Conservatives come at a time when the Labour party led by Jeremy Corbyn is alienating its traditional working class voters by championing an open border immigration policy. The Labour leader vowed to pursue a “liberal immigration regime” if the party comes to power in next month’s election.
“The Labour Party is committed to maintaining [and] extending Freedom of Movement rights,” Corbyn’s key adviser, Diane Abbott, declared earlier this week, accusing the Conservative government of “breaking up families” by deporting illegal immigrants.
The left-wing newspaper The Guardian quoted Corbyn on his immigration plan on Sunday:
Jeremy Corbyn has said he would want his government to allow “a great deal of movement” of people, in a sign Labour would look to keep a liberal immigration regime with Europe if Brexit goes ahead. (…)“Therefore, there has to be migration into Britain in order to maintain our economy and our services. That will be reflected in our policy that you see on Thursday.”Pressed again on whether free movement would continue, Corbyn said: “There will be a lot of movement.”
Conservative leader and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel slammed Corbyn’s immigration stance calling it a “a national security risk.” The move could allow jihadis and ISIS war criminals to enter the country, she warned.
With the Brexit Party largely out of the fray, Prime Minister Johnson is free to unite the country behind his “Get Brexit Done” platform. There is more at stake in this general election than his political future. A Conservative defeat would likely mean a reversal of Brexit, and the country’s return into the EU on punitive surrender terms dictated by Brussels. With the Labour party fielding Corbyn, a lifelong Socialist with links to Islamist terror groups, the election is his to lose.
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