Funding for sports (and the arts) are often the first things facing the chop in difficult times.

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

As the economy faces such difficulties, more tough questions need to be asked about what the Tories would do if elected. Their ideology of free markets and small government needs challenging. That has to be part of our job.

Indeed, when all parties campaign effectively the overall effect is to push up voting rates, as you see in tight marginal seats or close general elections. That must be good for democracy.

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds pay taxes and can join the army, so surely they should in turn be given their right to vote.

Connecting people to jobs and to each other is absolutely vital to a city's economy (and to the wider economy).

Some argue that now isn't the time to push the green agenda - that all efforts should be on preventing a serious recession. That is a false choice. It fails to recognise that climate change and our carbon reliance is part of problem - high fuel prices and food shortages due to poor crop yields compound today's financial difficulties.