The era of industrial Britain, where a large section of our workforce provided cheap labour in factories and processing goods is over.

What the Lib Dems have failed to do is offer any meaningful agenda for government or for power.

Surely, the best and most effective measure is to get the economy moving and shorten the period of recession or slowdown. That's the rationale for Gordon Brown's "fiscal stimulus" and it sounds like a good one to me.

I just hope that the democratic will of the Zimbabwean people prevails. If it does we must move quickly to help restore stability and prosperity.

As the prospect of a Tory government gets nearer, many traditional Labour voters - some who switched away in recent times and many who stayed at home - seem more determined to prevent that happening.

Although my seat is a contest between Labour and the Lib Dems, it could well make the difference between a Labour and a Tory government at the next election. In terms of international development, this choice is a very clear one.

Team GB's success at the Beijing Olympics can, in part, be said to have been made in Manchester. For example, all the cycling medal winners trained at Manchester's velodrome, the National Cycling Centre.