This weekend's newspapers will have made depressing reading for Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling.

The first round of polls to be carried out since Alistair Darling basically stood up in the House of Commons and increased taxes on families by another £110 a year, whilst being forced to admit through the figures that Gordon Brown failed to put anything aside for a rainy day during the goods years, will come as unpleasant reading for Labour MPs today.

The ICM poll in the News of the World puts the Conservatives on 40%, with Labour dropping down to 31% and the Lib Dems languishing at 20%. This is the first time since Labour won in 1997 that a budget has led to a slump in the Party's fortunes. Most revealling, however, is the response to the question, "which party is in touch with your views?" The answer puts the Conservatives on 44% and Labour on just 29%. This is a disasterous poll for Labour, although it is not the only one - the YouGov poll for today's Sunday Times puts the Conservatives on 45%, with Labour trailing at 32% and the Lib Dems doing even worse, on just 14%.

Nick Clegg also has much to worry about judging by the response to the question about which party leader would make the best Prime Minister. Apparently just 9% of the electorate believe that Clegg would make the best Prime Minsiter. To the extent that there ever was a honeymoon for him, it would appear to be over now that he and his colleagues in the Lib Dems (including our own MP here in North Norfolk) have broken their promise to give us a referendum before the EU treaty was ratified. Clegg and his colleagues were left looking indecisive and weak when they decided to abstain from the crucial vote rather than have the courage to vote one way or the other.