Britain’s Opposition Labour Party has slipped slightly further behind the ruling Conservatives ahead of next month’s general election, according to an opinion poll published in yesterday’s Observer newspaper.

The poll showed support for the Conservatives steady at 36 per cent, while support for Labour dropped by two percentage points since the last poll a week ago to 32 per cent, market research company Opinium said.

With less than three weeks to go before the May 7 election, most opinion polls have shown voters fairly evenly split between Britain’s two main political parties, but neither are likely to win enough seats to hold a clear parliamentary majority.

Support for the anti-European Union UK Independence Party (Ukip) rose by two percentage points to 13 per cent, while support for the Conservatives’ Liberal Democrat coalition partners edged one percentage point higher to eight per cent.

Miliband to set up unit to prosecute employers who exploit migrant workers

Opinium said it surveyed 1,995 British adults on April 16 and April 17, a period which included a high-profile televised debate between opposition party leaders including Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Meanwhile, Miliband said on Saturday that he would set up a new government unit to prosecute employers who exploit migrant workers if his Labour Party wins power in the national election on May 7. In a major speech on immigration – a widespread concern among Britons that has bolstered the anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party – Miliband set out how Labour would try to ensure immigrants did not depress British wages.

“We’ll make it a criminal offence to undercut pay or conditions of local workers by exploiting migrant workers,” he said in a speech in northwest England.

More than 600,000 people migrated to Britain in the 12 months to September, up from over half a million the year before, while average wages in Britain have failed to rise significantly despite falling unemployment.

The Conservatives and Labour are neck-and-neck in one of the closest elections in decades. Both parties want to regain former supporters who have drifted to Ukip, which once attracted about a fifth of voters but has more recently seen its own appeal ebb.

Labour would set up a dedicated unit in Britain’s Interior Ministry to prosecute employers who paid migrants less than the minimum wage or broke other employment laws, Miliband said.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party and Ukip leader Nigel Farage both said on Saturday that none of these measures would reduce immigration.