I'd be happy to have regular face-to-face meetings at Downing Street with David Cameron to argue the case for alternative economic policies.

I want a society that provides decent jobs for those who can work and decent security for those can't.

My first hero, as a teenager, was James Connolly. I remember discovering that he was a feminist, and that was an eye-opener, coming from a man of such poverty.

I think being a mother helps keep your feet on the ground. There's very little dignity in parenthood. It's a great leveller.

Washing dishes as a 17-year-old in an Oxford college and seeing the privileged lifestyles of the undergraduates there convinced me that a system that allowed luxury for the few at the expense of the many needed to be challenged.

I cherish the creation of public space and services, especially health, housing and the comprehensive education system which dared to give so many of us ideas 'above our station.'

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.