Wisdom worth sharing, words worth remembering.
In the industrial revolution Britain led the world in advances that enabled mass production: trade exchanges transportation factory technology and new skills needed for the new industrialised world.
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.
Funding for sports (and the arts) are often the first things facing the chop in difficult times.
At its most basic the democratic contract is a simple one: the right to vote comes with a responsibility to society through tax payments and citizenship.
Being out and about talking to residents and representing their views is in my view as important to politics as the grandstanding that takes place in Westminster.
We need to dig deep and give people a reason to be optimistic just as Obama is doing in America. Because in the same way that outcome of the U.S. elections will change the course of events there and around the world so too do politics here in Britain.
For sure the 'Obamania' that's fast taking hold reflects an incredible thirst for change in global politics and dare I say a wave of optimism that things can be different.
The Labour party has done more than any other to address gender inequalities through legislation and other means and to increase women's representation in politics which has led to recent increases in the number of female politicians.
In politics the number of women in the cabinet has fallen and if current poll trends continue and Labour loses a number of marginal seats the number of female MPs is likely to drop significantly.
For us political activists and candidates the morning after any election is a mix of emotions – the personal and the immediate the culmination of your own recent campaigning efforts and the fortunes of your party and the success or otherwise of what you stand for and believe in.
It's not a matter of if economies around the world becoming low-carbon but when and how: through struggle and strife or through advancement and progressive leadership. Larry Elliot described it today as the 'Green New Deal.' It's a leadership we in Britain can provide and from which our economy can benefit.
I have run a general election campaign pregnant and ran Ed Miliband's leadership campaign commuting to London with a new baby so I already have my system set up.
