Ricky Tomlinson, star of The Royle Family, Mike Bassett, Down to Earth and Brookside is hosting a night of comedy in Burnley on March 21.

Before becoming an actor, he was a trades unionist.

In 1973 he was imprisoned for 15 months for organising flying pickets as part of a building workers' strike.

If you were Prime Minister what law would you introduce?
Reading recently about the amount of alcohol consumed at Parliament, I would make it a law for all MPs to take a breath test before they vote on vital issues i.e. going to war or altering the retirement age to 68 or 70 years.

Has a book or song ever changed your life? If so, what?
A book changed my life. It was given to me by the Governor of Leicester Jail while I was in solitary confinement. The book was called The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist and tells of working conditions in the building industry in the early 1900s.

Where do you think is the best place in the entire world?
My snug at home a small room with an old leather easy chair and a flat screen television. I can watch comedy if I want to laugh, drama if I want to watch the classics and world news to keep up to date with events.

What's your favourite time of day and why?
Early morning when I wake up and look out of the window and see the birds and squirrels and you know you have another day to live.

What is your idea of happiness?
My idea of happiness is to know that those around me are content and happy and to know I can do anything (within reason) I want to.

If you won the lottery what would you spend it on?
Making sure those closest to me were looked after. I have no desire for flash cars, Rolex watches or designer gear.

If there was one thing you could change in your life what would it be?
Nothing. I believe your life is mapped out for you and we are given the freedom to make choices if you had no lows there would be no highs. We have all done things we regret but that should help us not to make the same mistakes again.

Who would be your four ideal dinner guests, dead or alive, and why?
Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha and Gandhi I would ask them for their solutions to sort out the terrible mess we are making of this beautiful planet.

What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
Sit in on a Cabinet meeting to try and understand the working of Tony Blair and his fellow New Labour ex-Socialist colleagues to see how they arrive at some of the right wing policies they make.

An Evening With Ricky Tomlinson, Burnley Mechanics, Tuesday, March 21, 8pm. Tickets £16.50. Box office: 01282 664400