Letter: Three parties in a new world

Sir: After the Moment of Truth - all those blue-rosetted corpses whirling along the nation's neglected and crumbling sewage pipes - we face the Moment of Ecdysiasm. At last, New Labour's troupe of swaying odalisques must start shedding fabric in their Dance of the 40 Veils.

For three years they've ploddingly resisted every prurient hoot, every wolf-whistle to reveal so much as an ankle or wristbone. What contours will the belated striptease reveal? Raquel Welch? Hattie Jacques? Or a replicant Margaret Hilda? Why are so many Tory-mugged victims uneasily gripped by the anticipation that the shedding will have a stronger -- and displeasing - impact on liver and bowels than on loins? How maddening if that glimpse of Tony's stocking is simply shocking - and off-putting.

JOHN SHEPPARD

London W12