Theresa May faces weaker Brexit mandate as Tory lead over Labour drops to five points

Conservatives are set for an overall majority of just two, according to a new YouGov poll.

Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to hold a general election to strengthen her Brexit mandate is backfiring, the latest poll from YouGov published on Friday (26 May) suggested.

The survey, of more than 2,000 people between 24 and 25 May, put the Conservatives on 42% (-1) and Labour on 38% (+3). The five point lead, if replicated on 8 June, would mean that the Tory overall majority in the House of Commons would fall from 17 to just two.

The slim majority would leave May wide-open to rebellions from Conservative backbenchers during the two-year-long divorce talks with the EU.

The figures come as the major political parties re-start their campaigns in the wake of the Manchester suicide bombing attack, which left at least 22 dead and 59 injured.

Police have named UK-born Salman Abedi, 22, as the assailant and are investigating whether he had help with the attack. The threat level remains at "critical", with thousands of troops deployed across the UK.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, is expected to partly blame Britain's military interventions abroad, including Afghanistan and Iraq, on the growing threat of terrorism.

"We will also change what we do abroad. Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home," he will say.

"That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions. But an informed understanding of the causes of terrorism is an essential part of an effective response that will protect the security of our people that fights rather than fuels terrorism.

"We must be brave enough to admit the 'war on terror' is simply not working. We need a smarter way to reduce the threat from countries that nurture terrorists and generate terrorism."

But former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Paddy Ashdown will accuse Corbyn of "taking political advantage" of the Manchester bombing.

"Some political leaders have sought to politicise the events of the week, but now is not the time, and this is not the event, to seek political advantage," he said.

"The families of victims in Manchester have a right to expect political parties to respond with restraint and sensitivity to these unpardonable crimes.

"There will be a moment when we will want to look at the policy implications of what has happened, but that should not be in the shadow of these terrible events when the nation should stand together."

Theresa May

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