Old Labour unimpressed with style of electioneering

It's here at last: Tony Blair's sixth election pledge. New Labour. New Britain. New baseball caps. American-style campaigning has hit election `97 with a vengeance.

Labour's latest balloons-and-baubles sales initiative has caused consternation among some Shadow Cabinet members, though. The party's most senior politicians have been sent glossy catalogues offering everything from mugs to golfing umbrellas. But the pitch has raised questions.

Are they supposed to buy their own red balloons (10 for pounds 1) and blow them up in the back of their hired Rovers on the way to the hustings?

The clothes on offer are also leading to a few wrinkled noses. John Prescott might just about carry off a "New Labour, New Hope" sweatshirt, but what about the more straight-laced figures on Labour's front bench? Gordon Brown, for example, certainly does not look like a man who would be comfortable in a bright red "Win `97" hat (pounds 4.99). And as for the ties: red with a single red rose (silk, pounds 11.99) is predictable, but who on earth put in that blue version (polyester, pounds 7.99)?

The vision summoned up by the party's new mail order catalogue will strike terror into the heart of many an Old Labour footsoldier. Even the battered election car which used to cruise the streets with a megaphone strapped to its roof will be replaced by a New Labour version. Now candidates will simply slip a copy of the party's theme tune into the in-car stereo system of their Rover.

The tape of D:Ream's "Things can only get better" (pounds 2.99 with a smiling picture of Tony Blair on the box), is the crowning glory of Labour's 1997 election sales push. Each short burst of song is followed by a 20-second gap into which the candidate is supposed to inject his or her personalised version of Labour's five campaign pledges.

The big question for Election `97, though, is not so much about the balloons as about the balloon-wavers. Are the same 50 people following Mr Blair around the country with the same 500 red rose balloons, or is Walworth Road shipping consignments to photo-opportunity venues around the country? The nation should be told.