By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 19:20 EST, 12 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:01 EST, 13 August 2013 . David Cameron and George Osborne have almost doubled their lead over Labour for stewardship of the economy. According to a survey, 40 per cent believe the Prime Minister and Chancellor are more capable of managing the economy than Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. Just 24 per cent said the Labour leader and Shadow Chancellor have the right answers – giving the Tories a 16 per cent lead. Economic competence: The Tory lead over Labour for running the economy has soared from nine points in June to 16 points in August . PM David Cameron, left, and Chancellor George . Osborne, right, have seen a sharp rise in their economic credibility, . according to the survey . It is a dramatic increase from a lead of just nine points last month, and will send shockwaves through the Labour party as Mr Miliband prepares for another relaunch. From April to June the economy grew by 0.6 per cent, double the 0.3 per cent seen in the first quarter of 2013. New Bank of England governor Mark Carney last week raised growth forecasts for this year from 1.2 per cent to 1.4 per cent and for next year from 1.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent. Senior Tories have been careful not to declare they can see ‘green shoots’ of recovery, with Mr Osborne insisting the economy has moved only from ‘repair to recovery’. With growth up and unemployment down, Labour has been forced to re-rite its attacks on the government, having previously accused ministers of cutting ‘too far, too fast’. Mr Miliband's frontbench have instead claimed that the recovery is only being enjoyed by the wealthy. But the new message has done nothing to stop voters swinging in behind the Tory leadership’s economic strategy. According to the latest ICM survey for the Guardian, the Conservative lead for ‘competence’ on the economy is at its highest level since December 2012. Pressure: After three weeks of almost complete silence from the Labour leadership, the poll will be another blow for Ed Miliband and Ed Balls (right) To make things worse for Labour, the same survey shows that while the party is ahead overall, it is only just. On voting intentions Mr Miliband’s party leads by just 3 per cent, with 35 per cent saying they will vote Labour compared with 32 per cent for the Conservatives. Factoring in the margin of error – of plus or minus 3 per cent – shows that the lead may in fact be non-existent. The Tories have fallen four points over the last month and Labour has gone down 1 per cent. The poll is the latest blow for Mr Miliband, who is expected to return to the political fray this week with an attack on the government for falling wages in real terms. He has faced criticism for three weeks of all but total silence from his frontbench, leaving the coalition to set the political agenda. A much-hyped speech on immigration by frontbencher Chris Bryant turned into a fiasco when large sections attacking Tesco and Next had to be rewritten after the retail giants hit back at errors in pre-briefed extracts. Gordon Brown's former pollster Deborah Mattinson said the speech was ‘symptomatic of a bigger problem’ for Labour - ‘an apparent lack of an overarching strategy’. ‘It seemed to be a tactical opportunity seized - rightly or wrongly - rather than something that's part of a bigger story from Labour, and I think what we need is to hear the bigger story, and that's what we're not really getting at the moment,’ she told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight. She warned that Labour was ‘slightly lurching from one announcement to the next, or complete silence’. ‘What voters need to hear is some real clarity about what Labour stands for, what Labour believes, how Labour now would be different from how Labour has been before. And that needs to be set out with absolute clarity in a language that people understand. ‘I don't buy the argument that we need to hold all our important announcements back because I think we're leaving it to the point that people have so little to go on about Labour that they're almost not noticing Labour, and the party has to define itself very clearly now to people or it will be defined by its opponents.’ The ICM poll shows UKIP has seen its rating rise from 7 to 10 per cent. The poll also shows 17 per cent of people think their personal financial circumstances have improved in the last year, compared to 43 per cent who say it has become worse. A quarter believed their situation would improve in the next year.
Just 24% said Labour leader and Shadow Chancellor have the answers .
Result will heap pressure on Ed Miliband ahead of fresh relaunch .
17% also think their personal financial circumstances have improved .
By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 19:20 EST, 12 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:01 EST, 13 August 2013 . David Cameron and George Osborne have almost doubled their lead over Labour for stewardship of the economy. According to a survey, 40 per cent believe the Prime Minister and Chancellor are more capable of managing the economy than Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. Just 24 per cent said the Labour leader and Shadow Chancellor have the right answers – giving the Tories a 16 per cent lead. Economic competence: The Tory lead over Labour for running the economy has soared from nine points in June to 16 points in August . PM David Cameron, left, and Chancellor George . Osborne, right, have seen a sharp rise in their economic credibility, . according to the survey . It is a dramatic increase from a lead of just nine points last month, and will send shockwaves through the Labour party as Mr Miliband prepares for another relaunch. From April to June the economy grew by 0.6 per cent, double the 0.3 per cent seen in the first quarter of 2013. New Bank of England governor Mark Carney last week raised growth forecasts for this year from 1.2 per cent to 1.4 per cent and for next year from 1.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent. Senior Tories have been careful not to declare they can see ‘green shoots’ of recovery, with Mr Osborne insisting the economy has moved only from ‘repair to recovery’. With growth up and unemployment down, Labour has been forced to re-rite its attacks on the government, having previously accused ministers of cutting ‘too far, too fast’. Mr Miliband's frontbench have instead claimed that the recovery is only being enjoyed by the wealthy. But the new message has done nothing to stop voters swinging in behind the Tory leadership’s economic strategy. According to the latest ICM survey for the Guardian, the Conservative lead for ‘competence’ on the economy is at its highest level since December 2012. Pressure: After three weeks of almost complete silence from the Labour leadership, the poll will be another blow for Ed Miliband and Ed Balls (right) To make things worse for Labour, the same survey shows that while the party is ahead overall, it is only just. On voting intentions Mr Miliband’s party leads by just 3 per cent, with 35 per cent saying they will vote Labour compared with 32 per cent for the Conservatives. Factoring in the margin of error – of plus or minus 3 per cent – shows that the lead may in fact be non-existent. The Tories have fallen four points over the last month and Labour has gone down 1 per cent. The poll is the latest blow for Mr Miliband, who is expected to return to the political fray this week with an attack on the government for falling wages in real terms. He has faced criticism for three weeks of all but total silence from his frontbench, leaving the coalition to set the political agenda. A much-hyped speech on immigration by frontbencher Chris Bryant turned into a fiasco when large sections attacking Tesco and Next had to be rewritten after the retail giants hit back at errors in pre-briefed extracts. Gordon Brown's former pollster Deborah Mattinson said the speech was ‘symptomatic of a bigger problem’ for Labour - ‘an apparent lack of an overarching strategy’. ‘It seemed to be a tactical opportunity seized - rightly or wrongly - rather than something that's part of a bigger story from Labour, and I think what we need is to hear the bigger story, and that's what we're not really getting at the moment,’ she told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight. She warned that Labour was ‘slightly lurching from one announcement to the next, or complete silence’. ‘What voters need to hear is some real clarity about what Labour stands for, what Labour believes, how Labour now would be different from how Labour has been before. And that needs to be set out with absolute clarity in a language that people understand. ‘I don't buy the argument that we need to hold all our important announcements back because I think we're leaving it to the point that people have so little to go on about Labour that they're almost not noticing Labour, and the party has to define itself very clearly now to people or it will be defined by its opponents.’ The ICM poll shows UKIP has seen its rating rise from 7 to 10 per cent. The poll also shows 17 per cent of people think their personal financial circumstances have improved in the last year, compared to 43 per cent who say it has become worse. A quarter believed their situation would improve in the next year.
Miliband and Ed Balls. Just 24 per cent said the Labour leader and Shadow Chancellor have the think their personal financial circumstances have