Labour has an impressive record of delivery for black Britain.

Putting in place the building blocks for the future of our economy is common sense.

Future prosperity will be built on private sector growth.

Banks provide payment systems, core deposit and lending facilities that enable us to manage our day to day affairs.

Despite Labour's achievements in government, we were too often seen as champions for global capital markets, which worked for bankers but did not seem to be delivering for the rest of Britain.

I've had a lot of good media and the Obama comparison has definitely been part of the reason for some of that.

Comparing every black male politician on the scene to Obama is a bit lazy - just because I'm from a similar background and profession, it's such an easy comparison to make. It's also quite annoying being viewed through the prism of someone else's personality and identity, rather than your own.

My stock answer when people ask 'Are you Britain's Barack Obama?' is 'I'm quite happy being Streatham's Chuka Umunna,' and I really mean that.

I think the first person to call me 'Britain's Obama' was Martin Bright at the New Statesman. Harriet Harman made the comparison once at a conference; it was very flattering but it made me cringe slightly.

I have a confession to make: I am a Labour parliamentary candidate but like and get on with some of the Conservative persuasion.

If the tax loop holes that allow tax avoidance were shut down, it would go some way to sorting out our finances, would it not?

Undoubtedly Obama's multi-ethnic heritage is part of his appeal. There is something in his background that we can all relate to and grab hold of.

We do not just strive for a society in which every person has the opportunity to reach their full potential (all parties lay claim to that); we want to build a society in which whatever talents people have, they are rewarded with a comfortable standard of living when they apply them.

I worked in the Square Mile for three and half years at an international City law firm.

Whether it is clamping down on tax avoidance by multinationals, setting ambitious targets for tackling climate change, or reforming the posted workers' directive to better protect migrant workers, European countries are working together to get things done.

Having common European standards has not only boosted prosperity here and across the continent, it is undoubtedly the best way of managing the challenges posed by globalisation.

Being outside the customs union would mean masses of new red tape, a desperate scramble for trade agreements and the re-emergence of a border in Ireland.

When you lose work, the meaning and purpose of life are taken away from you, and isolation can set in.

We must never forget the value of work because without it people are denied a sense of dignity and of community.

Back in the 1980s parts of our country were devastated by de-industrialisation. This wave of globalisation and the first fruits of technological innovation destroyed industrial jobs or exported them to low-wage economies. The loss of work had a devastating impact.

Work is the way we contribute to society, part of a reciprocal social contract - the giving of our effort and our taking when in need - that holds our society together. We work, we build our society, and we share in its prosperity.

Leaving the single market, making communities poorer and more alienated, is not the way to deal with public concerns about immigration, most of which comes from outside the E.U.

The argument in Labour around full membership of the single market is about whether it can be squared with delivering the desire of many of our voters to gain greater control over immigration. This is a proper concern - Labour must stand for those who voted leave every bit as much as we represent those who voted remain.

You cannot duck the difficult issues in the middle of an election campaign.