Labour polls: Ian Murray says party right not to worry about polls and claims Labour can only win through 'exciting policies'

Shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray has insisted Labour are right not to worry about the polls as he insisted his party can only win through “exciting policies”.

This week Sir Keir Starmer claimed he was not concerned about recent polls suggesting Labour’s lead has been narrowing since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took over, with several surveys showing the gap shrink to around 14 points.

Figures published by Redfield and Wilton on Monday showed Labour on 44 per cent, compared to the Conservatives at 30 per cent – an increase of two points for the Tories, something then followed by polling by More than Common showing similar figures.

However, Mr Murray has now insisted the party is not concerned the polls are narrowing, claiming Labour were focused on delivering policies that would help them win.

Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray insisted his party wasn't worried about the UK-wide polls narrowing.

He told The Scotsman: “The Tories crashed the economy, broke the law, added thousands to people’s mortgages, presided over the highest inflation in 40 years, the highest tax burden in 80 years, and the largest fall in living standards since World War Two.

"As for the SNP, they couldn’t get any worse. Polls are polls and will always fluctuate, so Keir is correct not to obsess on them. It’s up to us to ensure the Tories don’t just lose the next election, but we win it and win it well.

"That’s what we are all concentrating on by presenting exciting and progressive policies for a positive future while the Tories and SNP fail Scottish voters.”

His comments echo those made by Labour leader Sir Keir, who this week insisted his party was “making better progress than most people thought we could”.

Sir Keir added: “The way I look at it is my task is to take the Labour Party from the worst-ever general election result since 1935 back into government within a five-year period.

“Lots of people said that’s impossible to do. I’ve never believed that. Therefore the trajectory I’m interested in is that trajectory. And measuring ourselves against that I am confident as we go into these local elections.

“I think we’re probably making better progress than most people thought we could make. On the route, as in government so in opposition, there are lots of voices and opinion polls that are intended to knock you off course. But I’ve always been single-mindedly focused on this. My job is to ensure that we’ve got the Labour Party into government.”

The newfound confidence comes despite a furious backlash to Labour attack ads in which the party shared social media posts accusing Mr Sunak of failing to jail child sex offenders.

There are mixed feelings about the adverts among Labour MPs, with some feeling they have gone too far, and others claiming is is about time Labour “got its hands dirty”.

One MP told The Scotsman they didn’t object to the attacks, but questioned the lack of policy. They said: “I’m not as confident as I was, and while I think it’s good to beat the Tories at their own game, the campaign doesn’t say actually how we’ll fix things. Are we spending more money on justice? If not, we don’t really have a solution.”