I WAS lucky. In the Midlands town where I grew up, a touring theatre company played for three days every three weeks. It was a varied programme from farce and West End comedies to Shaw and Shakespeare.

With enthusiasm bordering on an obsession, I went to every play, soaking up the atmosphere and staying late to get a glimpse of the actors, exotic beings from another world whose names I can still recall.

There are many reasons for voting Labour. Major issues of social justice, re-founding the NHS on its original principles, a foreign policy based on international law and human rights, reasserting common ownership as the basis for a socialist economy. And, of course, the urgent need to invest massively in green technology and tackle the impending climate disaster.