I'm honoured to have been selected to be the Labour candidate for Manchester Central.

People rightly want our political leaders - on all sides - to concentrate on minimising the damage to jobs, living standards and our savings from the banking crisis.

When the heart stops for one beat it is desire, when it stops for one life time it is love

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.

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.

The impact of the downturn is starting to feel very real. House prices and the housing market have been taking the knock for some time and that's affecting people.

The cost of motoring is a massive issue at the moment, there's no question. The price of petrol goes up every time you go to the petrol station.