·Poll: the Tories had an approval rating of 42 percent against Labor with 25 percent.

·The poll showed the Conservatives' leader are significantly more trusted to run economy.

·The public is losing their faith in government's strategy toward Afghanistan.

    LONDON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Conservatives have moved into their biggest lead in a poll over Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor Party since September as the public expressed strong dissatisfaction with economic gloom and Brown's strategy toward Afghanistan.

Britain's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, speaks during the launch of Building Britain's Future at the Neighbourhood centre in London June 29, 2009. Brown set out plans to tackle youth unemployment on Monday in a programme for the final few months before an election that could end Labour's long grip on power. Brown pledged 1.5 billion pounds to boost the supply of low-cost housing and a 150 million-pound fund to encourage investment in areas like biotechnology and green industries. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    A poll released by the YouGov, an international Internet-based market research firm in Britain on Sunday showed that the Tories had an approval rating of 42 percent against Labor with 25 percent, underlining the possibility that the Conservatives will win the next election if current voting intentions continue.

    DOUBTFUL ECONOMIC COMPETENCE

    The poll of nearly 2,000 people showed that the Conservatives' leader are significantly more trusted to run the economy than the prime minister and his Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling.

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    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that the British economy will shrink by 4.2 percent in 2009 and will only recover to a weak gain of 0.2 percent next year.

    The British people remained worried about unemployment as the Office for National Statistics reported last week that the unemployment rate in Britain has hit 7.6 percent, the highest since January 1997.

    It said the jobless rate in the March-May period increased by 0.9 percent over the previous three months and up by 2.4 percent compared with the same period last year.

    Some economists said the unemployment rate in the country will keep rising long after the recession ends.

    The poll showed that 48 percent of the British people fear that they or a close member of their family will lose their job as a result of the financial crisis.

    The Sunday Times reported that in addition, public anger with the banks remains intense, following reports last week that some intended to reward their staff with huge bonuses.

    DISPUTED AFGHANISTAN POLICY

    Brown has defended his war policy in Afghanistan, saying that "If we are to defeat this vicious insurgency and by doing so make Britain and the world a safer place, then we must persist with our operations in Afghanistan."

    "I am confident that we are right to be in Afghanistan, that we have the strongest possible plan and we have the resources needed to do the job," he added.

    However, the public is losing their faith in the government since 16 British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in the past two weeks, adding the death toll to 185.

    Brown had originally planned to cut the force back after presidential election in Afghanistan next month, but is now promising to review numbers.

    According to the poll, about 21 percent said Britain should withdraw its forces right away, and 48 percent said it was a worthwhile objective but not worth risking British lives for.

    Britain's Conservative leader David Cameron said that the Tories would not increase defense spending if they won the next election, and that the National Health Service and overseas aid budget would be protected from cuts.