Latest poll shows Labour five points ahead of the Tories

The latest Guardian/ICM poll has Labour on 33% – five points ahead of the Tories who have slipped to 28%.

This means that since last month’s poll Labour are up by one point, while the Tories have fallen by 3. Meanwhile, these stats are a little better reading for the Lib Dems who are up 3 points to 14%, meaning they’re level-pegging with Ukip, who’ve stayed – for the third month in a row – at 14%. And the Green party are on 5%.

This blow for the Tories, and positive news for Labour, comes after the chancellor’s Autumn Statement – where Osborne committed to further spending cuts at a faster rate. A recent poll showed two thirds of people didn’t support Osborne’s proposals – and this is supported by the ICM poll which showed 55% of people think the Chancellor has cut too far and is endangering public services.

Instead, it looks like most (34% of people) would rather see the deficit closed by an equal amount of cuts and tax rises.

Significantly, this poll lead for Labour also comes after Miliband announced Labour’s first pledge – in which he said a Labour Government were committed to doing just this. Going into the Christmas break, this is no bad news for Labour.