THE BRITISH Bulldog will make his election debut later today as Labour stakes its claim to be the patriotic party.
The dog - famed as a symbol of the nation's pugnacity and strength - will feature in the party's latest election broadcast.
Looking tired and listless at first, "Fitz" the dog ends up straining at the leash and finally breaks free as Tony Blair explains his vision for the future.
Labour's campaign manager, Mr Peter Mandelson, explained:
"The Labour Party is the patriotic party."
"That's why we've used this strong symbol because we believe in Britain and know it can be better. Some may be surprised that we use the bulldog. But new Labour is the party of One Nation and the bulldog is a way of saying this.
"It is an animal with a strong sense of history and tradition. But like Britain today it is tired and without direction."
The party's latest Big Idea derives from Mr Blair's decision last autumn to "reclaim" the Union Jack which, Mr Mandelson asserted, had been "used, and abused by the Conservatives".
News of the Bulldog's intervention seemed particularly apt as Labour and the Tories vied yesterday to show each would be toughest on Brussels in a renewed row over fish and "quota hopping" in UK waters.
Mr Major told Cornish fishermen he would use the veto to block progress at the next European Council unless the issue was resolved.
Labour also refused to rule out use of the veto, while insisting its positive approach to Europe would make agreement easier to find.
The macho warnings to Brussels effectively eclipsed education as the big talking point of the day, as the election campaign entered its final fortnight. And there was little sign of a positive response to Mr Blair's call for an end to "tit for tat" campaigning.
The Labour leader devoted the biggest speech of his campaign to putting education centre stage, offering 21 steps to an education system which will be fit for the 21st century.
But at a rally in Plymouth last night Mr Major branded Labour's manifesto "a shameless contract with hypocrisy".
In his keynote speech in Birmingham, Mr Blair wrapped education in the flag of Labour's continuing commitment to social justice.
He said: "Education is liberty Education is opportunity. Education is the key not just to how we as individuals succeed and prosper but to the future of the country."
And he continued: "If the election is about anything, it should be about education. To those who say `where is Labour's passion for social justice?' I say education is social justice."
Mr Blair renewed his commitments to a guaranteed nursery place for all four year olds, a cut in class sizes to 30 or under for all five, six and seven year olds and new targets for the under elevens.
He also promised new qualifications for head teachers, reforms to teacher training and a new scheme for removing bad teachers.
Finally, he pledged a Labour government would spend more on education as the cost of unemployment falls.
But as Mr Blair made his pitch the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Paddy Ashdown, maintained his challenge for the education vote, chiding the Labour leader that "words are cheap
Mr Ashdown told his morning press conference: "It's easy to say your election priority is education, education, education. Words are cheap. The reality is that to improve the education `three Rs' you must have the Liberal Democrats `three Rs' - resources, resources, resources."
Meanwhile, Mr Major told his audience that Labour had opposed all the Conservative efforts to improve classroom standards: "Tony Blair opposed, opposed, opposed. Now like the man who has chucked a brick through the window, he turns up in a clean white overall offering to act as a glazier.
Rounding on Mr Blair's claim that he wants the same opportunities for other people's children as for his own, Mr Major said: "Hold on, what Mr Blair wants for his child is a place in a grant maintained school, a type of school which Tory policies created, a type of school his party tried to stop, a type of school his party's policies would end. What I want for my own children I will stop for yours."