A business is good if it gives a decent day's reward for a decent day's work, treats people decently, and gives them a voice at the top.

Governments of all stripes want to deliver growth and rebalance their economies now that they have learned the hard way that, left to their own devices, markets pick expensive banking losers.

A vision of Europe fit for the 21st century and a practical plan to deliver strong rights, decent jobs and livelihoods, with strong unions at its heart, is one worth fighting for.

Voting to go on strike is not a decision working people take lightly and is always accompanied by a strong sense of injustice at work. The impact of losing a day's pay is significant, not least for those in the lowest paid jobs who are already on the tightest budgets.

I worry that some politicians still think we are living in the 1950s where the man is the main breadwinner and the woman works for pin money. Actually, most families where there are two parents depend on two incomes to get by.

With real wages still falling for many, people are increasingly being forced to use their credit cards, their dwindling savings, or take out payday or doorstep loans if they need to buy anything beyond the most everyday of items.

I suspect there are people in all walks of life who need to be dragged into the 21st century in terms of attitudes towards women.