Paul Routledge, respected journalist and author recently subjected me to a no holds barred grilling. He quizzed me on crime, immigration, Afghanistan, the economy, help for elderly folk, university fees and what I'll do for you:

Selly Oak is a new constituency. Tell me why people here should send you to Westminster?

 I care about the things that really matter to people in Selly Oak. I want jobs, opportunities for youngsters, dignity and security for our elderly and a crack down on crime and anti social behaviour but I don't just talk about it. Through my Listening Panels I've been able to hear what people really think and feed that directly into government policy e.g. my work on a Victim's Charter directly influenced government policy over the appointment of a Victim's Czar and the first ever national report on the needs of victims. My constituency blueprint on tackling anti social behaviour was something I was able to contribute to the Respect Campaign.

And what can voters expect from a fourth term Labour government?

We'll halve the deficit in 4 years but we won't be preaching savagery like Nick Clegg or the economic madness of George Osborne and David Cameron. This is a seat which only Labour or the Tories can win; the LibDems know they can't win here. Selly Oak needs jobs and an MP who cares about unemployment. Our priorities are jobs; a future for young people; and a National Care Service

Birmingham is a great city. What will Gordon Brown do for Brummies?

He'll go for growth. We'll take projects like the hydrogen fuel cell, at the University of Birmingham, from the lab to the factory and create thousands of new jobs in green energy businesses. We'll unleash the talents in digital media, film and arts and build the medical technology businesses of the future - so that the city of a thousand trades is once more a centre of creativity and manufacturing.

Crime is a big issue for all our big cities. What can you do about it here?

Crime is actually falling but the fear of crime remains the biggest problem. Graffiti, vandalism, youngsters smoking drugs on the No 50 bus and anti social neighbours all contribute. The answer is neighbourhood policing and a crackdown on those who show no respect for other people. The council also ought to use CCTV instead of taking it out of blocks of flats.

The big breakthrough on serious crime is DNA. It's proved invaluable in convicting murderers and rapists. Between 1998 and March 2009, DNA evidence helped to solve over 304,000 crimes. In 2008-09 there were 252 murders and 580 rapes with a DNA scene-subject match. Yet the Tories and the LibDems want to restrict its use.

University chiefs want massive increases in tuition fees. What's your view of that?

I was Charles Clarke's Parliamentary Aide when he introduced tuition fees. There was a lot of opposition but universities desperately needed the money. Some of our universities were falling apart and the tuition was pitiful. That policy was improved by the reintroduction of grants and bursaries for poorer students. Today most people accept that tuition fees should be part of the mix but there's no justification for huge rises. I'm against it.

And education generally?

I think we've had enough big structural change in education. Let's protect SureStart and Children's Centres like Chinnbrook or Maypole. Concentrate on the basics and allow teachers to teach as well as keeping on top of those who are falling behind so that no one's written off.

In secondary we need to identify and develop whatever talent a youngster has that's why the Specialist Schools Labour has created like Kings Norton Girls with their Language and Sports specialism or Swanshurst with a Science specialism are so important. But there's still not enough real choice in Birmingham and I'm fed up seeing distressed parents and youngsters denied a place at the school of their choice. The Tories will cut children's centres and nursery provision and their obsession with 'free' schools which won't provide choice for the vast majority is mind boggling. Do you really want to spend money on the Goldie Hawn 'school of breathing'? It will mean children being bussed all over the city as parents chase a decent school while large numbers are once more condemned to second rate education.

Our soldiers are mired in an unpopular war in Afghanistan. How would Labour get us out of this mess?

I regularly meet and talk to those who are serving in Afghanistan. I've been to Selly Oak Hospital to visit a number of times. The TA 202 Army Hospital Field Unit is based in my patch at Dawberry Fields Rd. They provided the forward hospital services in Afghanistan for a large part of last year. Ordinary soldiers aren't as negative about the war as some of the media and there's no shortage of people volunteering to join the services.

They need more support and less sniping from the safety of the armchair. We have to build up the Afghan security forces so that they can take over and prevent the Taliban or other extremists from using it as a base to plan and train for terrorist attacks on our country.

I know old folks have much to thank this government for - free bus passes, pension credits, winter fuel allowance, TV licenses for the over 75 and so on. But their needs are much greater. What's you solution?

Pensioners tell me that they welcome the gains they've made under Labour and I wouldn't take any of it for granted. The Tories and the LibDems opposed these measures and they'd all figure in George Osborne's cuts. They are the party that cut the link with earnings, abolished free eye tests and doubled VAT on fuel.

We'll do two things for our pensioners: We'll restore the link with earnings and we'll create a National Care Service just like the NHS so that we take the worry out of growing old.

And what about unemployment? What's the future for local people when Birmingham Council are planning to cut at least 2000 jobs.

We've managed to prevent a huge rise in unemployment during this recession. We've helped keep people in work, created a guarantee for young people and introduced the Future Jobs fund. The council jobs cuts are just a taste of what the Tories have in mind. They'll destroy the local economy, shops and other small businesses and put families all over Selly Oak on the dole.

Council tax has shot up in recent years. What are you going to do about it?

If you think its high now imagine it after a few years of non stop Tory government cuts. In Birmingham the council has had 11 years of record funding from the Labour Government with more money for schools, social services and housing yet they're planning massive jobs cuts and have run up huge debts. They pay the senior staff too much and there are too many of them. Why is the Chief Executive paid more than the Prime Minister and five other senior staff paid almost as much? It's time to stop penalising the dinner ladies and the dustbin men and tackle the real problems. We should bring back proper inspections of the work done so that we get some value for money.  I'm no DIY expert but I'm inundated with complaints about the vandalism and shoddy workmanship carried out by council contractors. I run a council hall of shame on my website it's so bad.

Labour may have slapped a 50p in the £ tax on bankers' bonuses but they've done nothing about fat cat bosses of the energy companies fleecing gas and electricity consumers. What's your response to that?

It was right to go for the bankers' bonuses and we also ought to go after the energy companies. I was the Government Whip responsible for the Energy Bill. One vital element is a fair deal for consumers and more help for the fuel poor. We've got new powers if the energy bosses don't play ball. The Tories and LibDems opposed us.

Immigration is high on the anxiety agenda of many voters. What will Labour do, and how will it help the people of Selly Oak?

I've been worried about this since about 2003 and engaged in talking to voters and surveying their opinions so that the government can do the right thing. The first time I heard a demand that new immigrants ought to learn English was at one of my Listening Panels I fed it straight in and now its law. Likewise I've been able to tell the Home Secretary that foreign nationals should carry ID cards and shouldn't have access to our benefits because that's what the vast majority of people in Selly Oak tell me. We are tackling immigration based on that advice.

Voters don't think it makes sense to bring folk in from abroad for jobs that could be done by those already here. They're supportive of refugees but angry about those posing as asylum seekers and they don't like bogus students and colleges - I agree. That's why we've introduced a points system like Australia to curb immigration.

Transport links in Birmingham are notoriously bad. What can you do about that?

We have a good motorway network and fast rail links. The congestion busting experiment with the use of lanes on the M42 is now being rolled out across the country. We've got a new bus station and New Street station is about to be revamped. Our priority is a new high speed line from London via the Midlands to the North. That will mean Curzon St to Oxford St in 45 minutes. The council also needs to get serious about public transport, remember over 30% of households in Birmingham still don't have access to a car, by providing better bus lanes and the bus companies ought to introduce an Oyster card to customers being ripped off when they haven't the right change. And it's time we did something for the long suffering motorist by improving the state of local roads and charging reasonable rates for parking. The government is taking action against cowboy clampers but who is keeping an eye on the brigands in the city council?

David Cameron says the NHS is safe in his hands. Why do you think it isn't?

The NHS was on its knees when we came to power: crumbling hospitals; not enough doctors or nurses and waiting lists stretching into years. We've tackled all of that and built the first new hospital in this city since before the war but David Cameron wants to abolish our cancer guarantees and let the waiting lists spiral out of control once more.

Labour made a big thing about 'sport for all', but we've turned into a nation of obese adults and kids. What went wrong?

Youngsters need access to cheap sports activities like the Sport4Life UK initiative which operates in Druids Heath yet this council is cutting the youth budgets and increasing the charges and reducing the times at sports centres and swimming pools. People need to get more involved in their own communities. Birmingham is blessed with parks. If we have more groups like Friends of Cotteridge Park there is so much more we could do to help youngsters keep fit and burn off some of that fat.

Is Britain's defence budget too big, too small, or about right? And why?

It's about right for the tasks we take on but we try too hard to be the world's policeman when so many others are sitting on their hands. Not all our NATO partners are pulling their weight in Afghanistan. If they won't give us the troops they could at least pick up the tab for the equipment.

We're holding a defence review and we need to be realistic about our commitments. For me one war at a time is enough. It probably means a smaller and more flexible army, navy and air force and fewer top brass so the money can be spent on the equipment and resources the ordinary squaddie needs.

I'm glad that the government has been persuaded to do more for our troops and veterans like increasing the compensation payments for injuries, improving their wages and allowances and not having them pay council tax while fighting for us but we have to do even more. We've got to fight for our veterans like they fought for us. That's why I started holding my Veteran's Day at Swanshurst School and why we've been building up an oral history of the exploits of these brave people. Last year we got sponsorship from Moseley Roundtable and the Coop which helped us produce a fantastic booklet about some of these people. This year we're planning to do even more.

Labour bailed out the banks, but what has it done for manufacturing industry, the backbone of the West Midlands?

We have lost manufacturing jobs but the Regional Development Agency (Advantage) is one of our success stories. It supports small and medium sized businesses which are the real provider of jobs and backbone of our economy. The Tories plan to scrap it.

There's been nothing but scandal at Westminster for the last year about MPs expenses.  Come on, you've all been at it, haven't you.

I'm pleased to tell you that I satisfied Sir Thomas Legg and wasn't asked to pay back any money. I always try to give value for money. In 2004 I was the least costly MP in the entire country. I do regret that we didn't get a grip of the expenses issue earlier but the government has put in place a new body to independently supervise salaries and allowances in an open and straightforward way.  I'm upfront about this issue. I don't want a penny I'm not entitled to and I don't want to be out of pocket for doing my job.

You used to be a social worker in this city, dealing with problem families. Is Britain a 'broken society'?

I was a social worker. I've worked with some tough characters in some pretty difficult areas. 'Broken Britain' is another Cameron con. Sure there are some real toerags out there and we shouldn't be too namby pamby about how we deal with them. Youngsters do need discipline and some parents need a helping hand but I doubt our society is anymore dangerous now than when I worked with young offenders. Gimmicks like electing police chiefs or demonising social workers won't help. The Tories are really out of touch.

Thank you for being straight, Mr McCabe. But here's a final googly. Don't you sometimes regret giving up social work for politics?

When I look back at what we've achieved and what's at risk I'm pleased to have been part of this Labour government. It's by working closely with local people and paying attention to them that we can do these things - that's why we've got a minimum wage, cut hospital waiting lists, brought in Community Support Officers, set up Children's Centres, brought in free eye tests and bus passes and the winter fuel allowance. That's why there are now no schools in my constituency with outside toilets and why all youngsters are learning to use computers. My greatest satisfaction is when we legislate for things that my constituents say are needed and I know I've been able to influence the government to take them on board. That's the kind of politician I am.

Of course if things go wrong my social work pals aren't slow to tell me that I'm responsible - such is life.