Cries of ‘nothing new’ as manifesto fails to excite

CYNICS would say “we’ve heard it all before” as they listened to the prime minister singing the praises of Labour’s general election manifesto launched in the new — and as yet unopened — Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham yesterday.

It was not a wildly exciting occasion. There were no high-kicking majorettes, rolls of drums or fanfares as Gordon Brown, sporting a pinkish-violet tie, told the party faithful, in tones as sober as his suit, that this manifesto was all about the future.

And judging by the fact that there was an unusually large number of purple ties among the audience, one must assume this is the new colour for Labour and that, in Labour’s terms, the future is purple.