AS Labour and the Tories returned to slugging it out over tax, it was left to the Monster Raving Loony Party to brighten up a dull day on the election trail.

And, despite the death of Screaming Lord Sutch in 1999, they did not disappoint.

Under a joint leadership ticket of Alan "Howling Laud" Hope and a cat named Catmandu, they promised to contest 16 seats.

York is one of them.

But you suspect the other local candidates will not be missing too much sleep over the next 18 days.

The central planks of the party's manifesto are smaller class-sizes by standing kids closer together, the abolition of tuition fees for students named Grant, and draining Loch Ness to see if it really does contain a monster.

But there is one policy which might be popular -- a pledge to make supporting Manchester United a criminal offence for those born south of Crewe.

It was not just the Loonies who added a surreal air to yesterday's events, though.

People walking to the Tories' morning press conference were treated to the sight of police trying to shift an illegally-parked lorry covered with "Billy's Bandwagon" signs from outside Central Office.

And there was more to follow after the event -- which saw the party again on the defensive over disputed claims they want to cut taxes by £20 billion.

Standing outside, behind a podium, were two people in cut-out William Hague and Michael Portillo masks waving very slowly indeed.

It was a scary moment for those of us who had spent the past 40-minutes watching the real thing.

A few people even wondered how they had got outside so quickly.

But attention was focused on the man who wasn't there -- not the two left behind to clear up his (alleged) mess.

Labour is claiming Oliver Letwin -- who is said to have claimed the Tories had aspirations for £20 billion of cuts -- has again "gone on the run".

Mr Hague and Mr Portillo must have said a dozen times they were only planning to cut taxes by £8 billion.

But the pressure was relentless. Where was he? And was he still a member of the shadow cabinet? Mr Hague replied: "Mr Letwin remains an extremely capable shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury."

One wag shouted back: "Yes, but for how long?" We will get the answer on June 8.

Updated: 16:23 Tuesday, May 22, 2001