Poll blow after Brown tells party 'We're in the fight of our lives'

A week into the official general election campaign, the poll shows

Labour has a two-point lead in the region, compared with its 15 per cent lead at the 2005 election.

The poll from YouGov and the PoliticsHome website was released after Mr Brown launched the Labour manifesto in Birmingham as he sought to convince voters the party is still hungry for reform after 13 years in office.

The manifesto – called A Future Fair for All and dubbed "Blair-plus" by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson – includes a 4-a-week election giveaway for parents of children aged one and two, a 4-a-week toddler credit, better cancer treatments, a National Care Service, 70,000 more apprenticeships, and turning post offices into a People's Bank, measures which the Tories said would cost 22bn.

Other measures in the 76-page document included breaking up the Government-controlled banks, a high-speed rail line to Yorkshire, promises of extra powers for city regions like greater Leeds, more elected mayors and ruling out any council tax revaluation in the next parliament.

It promised no rise in income tax, but there was no such guarantee on VAT, and also signalled cuts in regeneration funding as money is redirected into projects to get people back into work.

Mr Brown said while the Conservatives offered "empty slogans about change", Labour's manifesto presented "a realistic and radical plan for Britain that starts with securing the recovery and renews Britain as a fairer, greener, more accountable and more prosperous country for the future".

But Tory leader David Cameron said there was "nothing new" and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "If they haven't managed to do it in 13 years, why on earth would anyone believe they will be able to do it this time?"

The launch also threatened to unravel for Mr Brown as he faced questions over whether he was breaking rules by holding a party event at a hospital due to be opened in the next few weeks. Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude wrote to Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell demanding an investigation into Labour's use of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, claiming it breached official guidance.

And while the Liberal Democrats offered Mr Brown a defence to the move, there was a sting in the tail from Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb. "This is a complete double standard," he said. "Only last week David Cameron was happy to go campaigning in Kingston hospital, but suddenly the Conservatives are saying it's unfair for parties to use the NHS in this way.

"The real issue about Labour's launch venue was the fact that it was at another PFI project steeped in debt."

Labour's choice of 20-year-old blogger Ellie Gellard to introduce the event also threatened to backfire as it emerged she had previously called for Mr Brown to be replaced by Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

Flanked by his Cabinet and wife Sarah, Mr Brown set out plans to allow parents to demand changes in the running of their schools, allow NHS Foundation Trusts to take over failing hospitals and merge under-performing forces with more effective neighbours.

Following last year's expenses scandal, he promised to reform politics and opened the prospect of votes at 16. And it promises a Strategic Defence Review to examine funding and pledges a "Forces Charter" enshrining the rights of forces, families, and veterans.

But with regional development agency Yorkshire Forward already having its budget for regeneration schemes slashed this year, leading to delays to major projects in the region, the manifesto also suggests towns and cities in the region will enjoy less funding in future.

"Our regeneration policies have transformed previously neglected communities, and our great cities are among the best in the world," the manifesto says. "We will make savings in regeneration funding and focus on tackling worklessness, transforming the prospects of those areas most disconnected from the wider economy."

The poll of 883 Yorkshire voters for the PoliticsHome website shows Labour on 36 points and the Conservatives on 34.