'Black Friday' Discount Day Reaches UK

Some of the UK's biggest retailers are cashing in on a US tradition which sees millions of frenzied shoppers make the most of discounted prices.

Amazon, Asda and Apple are among the companies that have launched so-called Black Friday sales in Britain - despite many consumers being unaware of the custom.

In the US, thousands of stores discount their prices the day after Thanksgiving, and many open for longer hours.

Last year a record number of people visited stores over the Black Friday weekend, spending a total of $52bn (£32.6bn) - an average of around $400 (£250) each, according to the National Retail Federation.

And this year, some eager shoppers have been caught on camera phones battling to get to the best bargains first, after queuing for hours. 

Many retailers opened their stores at midnight, and this year the trend to open at 8pm on Thursday started to spread.

Some US stores were frantic

While the shift was denounced by some store employees and traditionalists as pulling people away from families on Thanksgiving, many shoppers welcomed the chance to shop before midnight.

"I think it's better earlier. People are crazier later at midnight," hotel worker Renee Ruhl, 52, said as she shopped at a Target store in Orlando, Florida.

Online retailer Amazon was one of the first companies to bring the trend to the UK.

It launched a week-long Black Friday sale on Monday, which it claims "offers millions of pounds of savings on hundreds of Christmas gifts".

Tech giant Apple and Asda, owned by Walmart, are also hoping to make the most of the Christmas shopping rush by offering one-day discounts of their own.

Hotel Chocolat emailed customers to say that as it offered US customers 20% off it would do the same for UK buyers.

"There are more retailers launching sales this year than ever before - and many British consumers are becoming aware of the tradition for the first time," Retail Week's Gemma Goldfingle told Sky News.

"In the US it is an absolute phenomenon, with people queuing up all night to snap up the best deals."

Amazon launched its sale on Monday

In Orlando at least one family camped outside a Best Buy shop for a full week, sleeping in two tents.

"It has not reached that level here and whether it ever will is another matter," Ms Goldfingle said.

She said that Americans have Thanksgiving to kick-start the event – whereas in the UK it is just a normal day. Boxing Day, when UK sales traditionally begin, is a normal work day for Americans.

"A lot of British retailers would prefer not to have it," Ms Goldfingle said.

"They want to be selling items at full price ahead of Christmas, especially given the tough economic conditions."

While a limited number of UK chains have labelled their sales as Black Friday, many others have needed to show weekend price drops to lure customers.

Furniture chain dfs has taken to advertising in newspapers about its discounts while Topshop offered online weekend deals.

Black Friday, which is thought to refer to the first day of the year that retailers go "into the black", comes just ahead of Cyber Monday - which the marketing industry claims is the busiest day in the online shopping calendar.

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Tax Backlash Prospect For Independent Shops

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business & Economics correspondent

Independent businesses could benefit from public uproar over low rates of corporation tax paid by global giants Starbucks, Amazon and Google, according to retail experts.

The backlash has been prompted by the revelation that Starbucks has paid just £8.6m UK corporation tax in the past 13 years, on sales of £3.1bn, when most businesses will pay a corporation tax rate of 24% this year.

In 2011, Google paid £6m tax against sales of £395m, while Amazon paid no tax at all in the UK - despite sales here reaching £3.3bn.

Matthew Stych, research director at analysts Planet Retail, believes British retailers can make the most of the furore by highlighting their own contributions and good practices.

"It's a golden opportunity that comes along once in a decade or so, to really capitalise on the negative publicity that some global retailers are receiving at the moment," he says.

"I think it's a huge opportunity that independent retailers in the community must seize now".

Google and Amazon are also accused of paying low taxes on big profits

Independent booksellers in Hertfordshire are doing just that. With support from the Booksellers Association they have launched an advertisement campaign to publicise the fact they pay their taxes.

"People need to think about where they are spending their money and we are hoping that this campaign will bring that to their attention," said Sheryl Shurville, co-owner of Chorleywood Bookshop.

But other analysts are not convinced such consumer campaigns will have any long-term benefit.

"We're unlikely to see any massive dip in the sales of these companies under scrutiny," says Douglas McNeill, chief analyst at Charles Stanley.

"Whilst ethical issues can temporarily make people pause for thought, consumers make their choices on the basis of eternal basics of price, quality and convenience."

Mr Stych says large brands may yet find a way to turn around the negative publicity.

"As far as Amazon and Starbucks are concerned, I think there's an opportunity to strike a more conciliatory note," according to Mr Stych. 

"This is for them also an ideal opportunity to regain or re-forge that bond with local consumers".

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EU Budget: 'Long Way To Go' Before Deal

David Cameron has demanded billions in pay and pension cuts from the EU's civil service in support of austerity-hit workers across Europe.

Ahead of a crucial budget summit last night, he presented EU heads with a paper setting out how Brussels could slash at least six billion euro (£4.8bn) off its staff costs at a stroke by upping retirement ages, lowering pensions and trimming lavish salaries.

President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso were caught by surprise during the private talks with the Prime Minister.

Mr Cameron's position was to impose a real-terms freeze in spending in common with national public sector cuts, including a solidarity gesture by targeting the 60bn euro-a-year (£48bn) administrative budget which pays the 40,000-plus civil service behind the Commission, Council and European Parliament.

Following the meeting Downing Street said there was "a long way to go" before EU leaders could agree a long-term budget.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister set out our position that while the latest proposals were a step in the right direction, they did not go far enough and that we think more can be done to rein in spending."

Mr Cameron said he would be fighting "very hard" to secure a good deal for British taxpayers and to keep the rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

Cameron meets Barroso and van Rompuy prior to the summit

"These are very important negotiations. Clearly at a time when we are making difficult decisions at home over public spending it would be quite wrong - it is quite wrong - for there to be proposals for this increased extra spending in the EU," he said.

He has welcomed proposals from Mr Van Rompuy which would deliver a small real-terms cut in EU spending commitments, but has made clear he is unhappy with other details of the package, which demands a reduction in the £2.9bn UK rebate.

The start of the meeting was delayed until mid-evening as the rest of the EU's leaders held their own "confessionals" throughout the day, setting out their positions on how much cash the EU should be given to pay for policies between 2014 and 2020.

A pre-summit compromise is already on offer - a seven-year budget "envelope" of 973bn euro (£785bn) for 2014/2020, a cut of nearly 5bn euro (£3.8bn) compared with the 2007/2013 ceiling.

The move was seen in Downing Street as being in the right direction - although the "cut" is in a spending ceiling which officials say has not been reached.

It is also above the 886bn euro (£712bn) originally pitched by the Treasury as in line with the real-terms freeze Mr Cameron wants.

The EU headquarters in Belgium

But in the complex world of EU budget economics, with financial "commitments" different from "payments", a range of calculation options, rebates for some countries, and contributor and beneficiary member states, Mr Cameron and his colleagues have plenty of scope for claiming summit success.

The Prime Minister's allies for budget belt-tightening, including Sweden and the Netherlands, have demanded hefty financial cuts.

Germany, France, Finland and Austria want to freeze the maximum Brussels can draw from member states every year - leaving plenty of scope to argue over the actual spending figures within the ceiling.

And 15 countries, led by Poland, are backing budget increases, not least to preserve the scale of cash aid they receive as "net beneficiaries" from the EU kitty.

Britain is arguing for a shake-up in EU spending priorities, cuts in agriculture spending and subsidies - fiercely defended by France - and cuts in EU staff levels and pay and perks, in line with national civil servants.

But the European Commission still insists that a spending increase is necessary, not least to pay for polices already agreed by member states.

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Discount Day: 'Black Friday' Reaches The UK

Some of the UK's biggest retailers will cash in on a US tradition this Friday, as they slash their prices ahead of Christmas.

Amazon, Asda and Apple are among the companies that have launched so-called Black Friday sales in Britain - despite many consumers being unaware of the custom.

In the US, thousands of stores discount their prices the day after Thanksgiving, and many open for longer hours.

Last year a record number of shoppers visited stores over the Black Friday weekend, spending a total of $52bn (£32.6bn) - an average of $398 (£249) each, according to the National Retail Federation.

Amazon launched its sale on Monday

US online retailer Amazon was one of the first companies to bring the trend to the UK.

It launched a week-long Black Friday sale on Monday, which it claims "offers millions of pounds of savings on hundreds of Christmas gifts".

Tech giant Apple and Asda, owned by Wal Mart, are also hoping to make the most of the Christmas shopping rush by offering one-day discounts of their own. 

"There are more retailers launching sales this year than ever before - and many British consumers are becoming aware of tradition for the first time," Retail Week's Gemma Goldfingle told Sky News.

"In the US it an absolute phenomenon, with people queuing up all night to snap up the best deals.

"It has not reached that level here and whether it ever will is another matter."

She said that American's have Thanksgiving to kick-start the event – whereas in the UK it is just a normal day.

"A lot of British retailers would prefer not to have it," she said.

"They want to be selling items at full price ahead of Christmas, especially given the tough economic conditions."

Black Friday, which is thought to refer to the first day of the year that retailers go "into the black", comes just ahead of Cyber Monday - which the marketing industry claims is the busiest day in the online shopping calendar.

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Cameron To Insist On Austerity In EU Budget

David Cameron travels to Brussels later insisting that austerity being enforced around Europe is reflected in the EU's budget.

He will join leaders from all 27 countries at a special summit to set the European Union's spending limits from 2014 to 2020.

It is a complex and deeply divisive process, with the UK balking at the European Commission's opening gambit - to increase the overall spending ceiling to a maximum €1,091,000,000,000.

This was flatly rejected by Britain and nearly all the net contributors to the European Union.

The European Council, which represents the interest of the member states, chimed in with its own plan, which represents a real-terms 2% cut from the spending ceiling approved for the current seven-year period.

But the proposal, penned by the Council President Herman van Rompuy, would reduce Britain's rebate and only contains a 1% reduction under so-called "Heading 4", which details the EU's spending on administration costs.

Mr Cameron, and other leaders, believe Brussels should accept some symbolic reductions in red tape and make deeper cuts to the legions of Eurocrats who work in the EU institutions.

The British Prime Minister believes Mr van Rompuy's proposals are moving in the right direction, but he needs to go further.

He has also insisted that the UK's £3bn a year rebate, which was negotiated to compensate Britain for money disbursed to other nations, is not up for discussion.

He told MPs yesterday he would be "fighting incredibly hard" to get the best deal for the UK, but he could use the veto to protect British interests.

The budget has to be agreed by all 27 members and by a majority in the European Parliament.

Other countries also have reservations with the proposals on the table: France and Ireland want to protect agricultural payments to their farmers, Italy is unhappy that other countries' rebates due to expire in 2013 might be renewed while Denmark wants to negotiate its own rebate.

Earlier this month Mr Cameron was blindsided by a Tory rebellion calling for a budget cut, not just a freeze. He may yet face their wrath.

The budget being discussed is about setting an absolute limit on EU spending, but the money spent is always considerably less.

So while the British Prime Minister might be able to claim a victory in securing a freeze in total EU spending limits, UK taxpayers may still have to fork out more cash to Brussels.

If no agreement is reached, more summits will be held in the new year.

If there are still problems, the annual budget will roll over with an extra 2% added to take account of inflation.

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Renters Warned About 'Rogue' Letting Agents

The lettings sector needs more regulation, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said, after revealing a rise in the number of so-called rogue agents.

Those renting properties are at risk of being taken advantage of by unscrupulous agents amid "a total lack of effective regulation", RICS warned after surveying 2,000 people.

The organisation said that renters had come to expect "worryingly low standards", with two thirds of those questioned saying they had not been given an inventory when they moved into a rented property in the last two years.

Lettings agencies do not have to conform to codes of conduct, RICS highlighted, and can be set up by people without relevant qualifications, knowledge or understanding of the rental process.

A clampdown is needed to prevent the sector turning into "the property industry's Wild West", RICS added.

Peter Bolton King, global residential director at the organisation, said rogue agents were taking advantage of the UK's booming rental market.

Demand for rental properties has shot up as people struggle to afford the deposit required to buy their own homes, or fail to meet banks'  tough borrowing conditions.

"A good lettings agent can be worth their weight in gold for both landlord and tenant," Mr King said.

"However, there are too many corrupt agents that do not belong to any professional body who are taking advantage of the current gap in regulation, putting consumers at risk."

He added that a rogue agent could land a tenant with problems including lost deposits, broken agreements and excessive charges.

"What we would like to see is the Government taking direct action on this and introducing a single regulatory and redress system for both sales and lettings agents to make sure they are fully accountable," he said.

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Supermarkets 'Over-Promote' Unhealthy Food

Supermarkets are over-promoting fatty and sugary products using special offers and price reductions, according to a new study.

Professor Paul Dobson, from the University of East Anglia (UEA), has led a three-year study of consumer behaviour towards food and the impact on overeating and food waste.

He concluded that unhealthy foods receive too much promotion from supermarkets, and says the food industry must do more to promote healthy living.

"It is simply irresponsible for supermarkets to overly promote foods with high sugar and fat content," said Prof Dobson.

"The food industry must play a much greater role in promoting healthy diets.

"Food producers can do more by reducing the fat, sugar and salt content of processed foods, while food retailers can ensure that healthy and nutritious choices are available and affordable to all consumers and that they practice responsible marketing."

He said that if retailers and producers did not take responsibility, regulation "might be needed".

Supermarket giants including Tesco and Asda were the focus of the study

Special offers are worth more than £50bn in sales to supermarkets and account for over a third of all consumer spending.

The research team analysed weekly price and nutrition data of a full range of food and drinks products sold over a year by four UK supermarkets - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Ocado.

They found a bias towards sugary products for price promotions and that straight price discounts are on average more skewed towards unhealthy products.

Special offers also tended to be slanted towards more unhealthy products, especially those with high sugar content.

However, multi-buys were on average more biased towards healthier items.

Prof Dobson will outline his findings at a lecture in London later.

"While price promotions can offer savings for consumers they may not be so good for our waistlines and health," he added.

"With almost a quarter of the population classed as obese, overeating and food waste are serious concerns for modern society."

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Smartphones To Become Virtual Tape Measures

Software that allows people to use their webcam or smartphone as a virtual tape measure is set to revolutionise online shopping.

Developers say the technology can take accurate waist, hip, chest and other measurements, which would help the user decide which size garment to buy whenever they visit the website of a participating retailer.

The software is being developed by computer vision experts at the University of Surrey in collaboration with staff at the London College of Fashion, body-mapping specialists Bodymetrics and digital creative agency Guided.

A launch is anticipated within two years.

Professor Adrian Hilton, from the University of Surrey, said: "It's unrealistic to expect online clothes shoppers to have the time or inclination to take a series of highly accurate body measurements of themselves. The new system makes it all very easy."

The technology could streamline the online shopping process

By taking multiple measurements of the body, the system could save retailers and shoppers millions of pounds a year in return postage costs.

Up to 60% of clothes bought online are estimated to be sent back to the retailer.

Body scanning is already starting to make a mark in the clothing retail sector, but the new system is likely to be a significant improvement, according to the research team.

Because it takes measurements at a number of different points on the body and combines these with a person's overall proportions to build up a detailed 3D image, it offers much greater precision than anything else available in-store or online.

"The potential benefits for the fashion industry and for shoppers are huge," said Philip Delamore from the London College of Fashion.

"Currently, it's common for online shoppers to order two or three different sizes of the same item of clothing at the same time, as they're unsure which one will fit best."

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Boris Johnson Condemns Property Tax Plans

Boris Johnson has condemned proposals for a tax raid on owners of expensive homes, insisting the focus should be on ensuring firms like Google pay their way.

The Mayor of London, in a speech to the CBI, warned that high rates of personal taxation will make Britain less competitive.

Mr Johnson hailed the economic success of the capital but stressed that it could not be taken for granted.

"In the 19th century London became the biggest and richest city on earth because of its openness to trade and to talent," he said.

"I am worried that we are losing some of that openness at a critical time."

Mr Johnson called for a new "Age of Enterprise", saying it requires the Government to be "responsive to what is happening in the rest of the world".

"I am afraid that high rates of personal taxation are likely to make us less competitive," he said.

"We should have taxes that are low but fair and it is absurd to be suddenly whacking up taxes on cash poor people who happen to inhabit expensive houses in London when firms like Google are paying zero.

"Neither arrangement strikes me as being fair and so Google and co face a very clear choice - they can either change their tax arrangements or do much more to serve our society by visibly taking on 18 to 24-year-olds who are out of work."

His intervention came after Business Secretary Vince Cable indicated some kind of levy on property is being considered for inclusion in next month's Autumn Statement.

The Lib Dems have been pushing for a new wealth tax and there have been reports council tax bands could be hiked for properties worth £1m.

This is despite both David Cameron and George Osborne insisting the Government would not introduce a so-called "mansion tax".

The Chancellor is negotiating on the contents of his key statement on December 5, which is set to include a fresh round of welfare cuts.

Mr Cable said on Sunday: "These areas are under discussion and the devil will be in the detail but it is right that we do tax wealth and property is the obvious place to go.

"One reason that it is fairer is that it cannot run off to Monaco and Liechtenstein. When trying to deal with abuse of the tax system, it is the best way of doing it."

In his CBI speech, Mr Johnson also urged politicians to be positive about the country's prospects and stop using the "rhetoric of austerity"

"If you endlessly tell business to tighten their belts and eat nut cutlets and drink their own urine then you will be putting a big downer on growth and enterprise," he declared.

"Give British firms the right platform for enterprise and there are no limits to what they can achieve."

He insisted it was time to stop "vilifying bankers" but said leading bankers must now show "moral leadership" to help Britain's recovery.

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Comet Slashes More Jobs As Troubles Continue

Struggling retailer Comet is to cut a further 735 jobs, administrator Deloitte has announced.

It said some 600 jobs have been lost from the company's home delivery network, which operates from 12 hubs across the UK.

It has made a further 57 employees redundant from Comet's head office at Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, as well as 56 from a call centre in Clevedon.

A further 17 staff have been made redundant from an office in Hull.

The sites were also the subject of 330 redundancies announced by the administrator last week.

There have been no job losses to date at Comet stores, but Deloitte warned on Saturday that up to 41 stores may have to close before the end of this month.

The collapse of Comet marks one of the biggest high street casualties since the demise of Woolworths in 2008 and came a month after the failure of JJB Sports.

The group was hit by weak high street trading conditions, competition from online rivals and being unable to secure the trade credit insurance needed to safeguard suppliers.

In particular, it was knocked by the lack of first-time home buyers, who have been key customers for Comet, according to Deloitte.

The high street electricals market in the UK has come under huge pressure as cash-strapped shoppers put off purchases of big-ticket items, such as TVs and large appliances, and online rivals take a bigger slice of the sector.

Comet's administration comes just months after it was taken over by investment firm OpCapita, which bought the chain for a nominal £2 in February.

Angry staff at the chain have called for ministers to investigate the retailer's collapse and the way its former private equity owners ran the company.

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Empty Shops Rate Sets 'Alarm Bells Ringing'

One in 10 shops in UK high streets and shopping centres were empty in October - the worst figure since the British Retail Consortium's nationwide survey began in July 2011.

As retailers continue to battle against stagnating sales and rising costs, the new figures showed last month's town centre vacancy rate at 11.3%.

A fifth of store units are currently empty in Northern Ireland, while the rate for Wales is 15.1% and for the North & Yorkshire region the rate is 14.6%. Greater London had 7.6% of its units lying empty.

BRC director general Stephen Robertson said the latest figures would set "alarm bells ringing" and the financial challenges for both customers and retailers were far from over.

Big brands including JJB Sports, Clinton Cards, Blacks Leisure, Game and Peacocks have either disappeared or scaled back their presence in town centres after going into administration.

And the collapse of electricals chain Comet this month will be another blow.

Mr Robertson renewed his call for Chancellor George Osborne to freeze business rates, which are set to increase by 2.6% in April.

He said: "Many retailers are battling stagnating sales and rising costs, and next year's threatened business rates increase can only make matters worse.

"If the Government wants to breathe life back into our town centres and ensure the retail industry can play its full role in job creation, it needs to freeze rates in 2013."

In response, a Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "Empty shops are a wasted economic opportunity that spoil the town centre. That is why we are proposing to scrap the damaging red tape that is keeping so many shops boarded up, allowing young entrepreneurs to open pop-up shops and turn the high streets into an exciting start-up launch pad.

"The best thing Government can do to help businesses is to provide them with a stable economic environment, which is why we want to protect local firms from soaring tax bills. We've postponed the revaluation, which will stop soaring tax bills for 800,000 firms, and given businesses the option of spreading this year's increases out over three years.

"Councils also have the power to grant discretionary discounts, and we've temporarily doubled small business rate relief, meaning approximately a third of a million businesses - including many small shops - are currently paying no rates at all."

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Business Bosses Slam 'School Exams Factory'

Britain's education system is fostering a "cult of the average", failing to help the brightest youngsters or those most in need, business leaders have warned.

In a new report, the CBI says too many children fall behind and never catch up, and that in some cases, secondary schools have become little more than exam factories.

Decades of "patchwork" reforms have confused schools, encouraged a tick box culture that has put off teachers and resulted in a narrow focus on exams and league tables, the UK's biggest business group adds.

The report calls for a major overhaul to ensure that all children can succeed.

It recommends radical changes, such as reducing the importance of GCSEs and making A Levels the main exam for school leavers, and moving away from league tables in favour of Ofsted reports.

"The education system fosters a cult of the average: too often failing to stretch the most able or support those that need most help," the CBI says.

CBI director-general John Cridland said while businesses want school leavers to have a rigorous education, they also want it to be "rounded and grounded".

"Today we have a system where, sadly, a large minority of our young people fall behind," he said.

"They fall behind and never catch up. It's not the fault of any individual concerned. It's not the fault of children, parents or teachers. It's a system failure. It's not acceptable any more than it's not acceptable that the top 10% are not stretched enough."

Mr Cridland added: "This generation of young people are as streetwise as any, but sometimes in the education system we're not always bottling that.

"In some cases secondary schools have become an exam factory. Qualifications are important, but we also need people who have self-discipline and serve customers well."

Ministers have announced plans to scrap GCSEs and replace them with new English Baccalaureate Certificates in English, maths and science. Reviews of A Levels and the national curriculum are also under way.

Mr Cridland said: "Government reforms are headed in the right direction, but are not sufficient on their own. They need to go further and they need to go faster."

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Bronfmans Tussle For Parlophone Control

Exclusive: Fuller Tunes Up EMI Bid

Updated: 8:34pm UK, Saturday 17 November 2012

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A relative of the former chairman of Warner Music Group is forming a duet with Simon Fuller, the music industry impresario, in an attempt to wrest control of some of the most prominent record labels in the world.

I understand that Claridge Inc, a private equity firm headed by Stephen Bronfman, cousin of Edgar Bronfman Jr, is in talks to back an offer by Mr Fuller for Parlophone, the label that counts Coldplay and Kylie Minogue among its artists.

If it does commit funds to the Fuller bid, it would effectively pit the cousins against one another. Edgar Bronfman Jr stepped down as Warner's chairman last December following the company's takeover by Len Blavatnik, the Russian oligarch, but remains on the company's board. Warner is among the other parties vying to buy Parlophone.

Mr Fuller is assembling a heavyweight line-up of financial investors in an effort to secure Parlophone, Mute, Sanctuary and a series of other labels.

Blackwell Fuller, which he founded with Chris Blackwell, who established Island Records, is also in discussions with CJ E&M, the entertainment and media arm of CJ Group, a major South Korean conglomerate.

Searchlight Capital Partners, the buyout firm that owns Hunter Boots, is another potential provider of equity to Mr Fuller's bid although it has yet to make a firm commitment to do so.

Claridge's involvement is significant because of the Bronfman family's history in the music business.

Last week Sky News revealed that Mr Fuller's bid for the labels would be supported by Lord Rothschild, the financier, through his RIT Capital Partners vehicle.

The assets are being sold by Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, in order to satisfy regulators following its £1.2bn takeover of EMI's recorded music arm.

Other bidders for the EMI labels include MacAndrews & Forbes, BMG and Sony Music, but Mr Fuller is said to be well-placed if he secures firm financial commitments because Universal is unlikely to favour a sale to one of its largest competitors.

Mr Fuller, the founder of Pop Idol and who launched the Spice Girls' careers, is also understood to have ambitious plans to develop the Parlophone artists internationally and through other formats.

Nobody involved in Mr Fuller's bid would comment.

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Miliband Warns Of 'Sleepwalk' Towards EU Exit

Labour has posted a 12-point opinion poll lead over the Tories - its widest margin of advantage in a ComRes survey for more than seven years.

The Opposition gained two points to 43% on a month ago and the Conservatives dropped two to 31%, in the poll conducted for the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror.

It showed the Liberal Democrats static on 10% and Ukip down one on 8%.

Two thirds of voters also backed a cut in British contributions to the EU as Prime Minister David Cameron prepares for a Brussels summit next week to discuss the future budget.

Tory rebels joined forces with Labour last month to defeat the Government by pushing through a call for a real-terms cut. Mr Cameron is arguing for a real-terms freeze.

In the poll, 66% said UK payments "should be cut rather than frozen" with 12% against and 22% unsure.

A majority (58%) also agreed that Britain should withdraw from the EU altogether "if some EU powers cannot be restored to the UK", including a 53% majority of Labour voters.

Even Liberal Democrat voters backed that stance by a margin of 39% to 32%.

Asked if the UK should "leave the EU regardless", 43% agreed - with more Tory and Labour supporters backing the policy than not.
While nearly a quarter (23%) of Lib Dem voters agreed, a clear 57% were opposed.

:: ComRes interviewed 2,024 British adults online between November 14-16.

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