CTHERE are no luvvie airs and graces about Ricky Tomlinson. The ex-plasterer, who has become a national treasure as the head of TV's The Royle Family, isn't afraid to speak his mind.

But he can't understand why Hartlepool ignored what he had to say when he campaigned on behalf of former miners' leader Arthur Scargill, against Peter Mandleson, in the last General Election.

His disappointment with Blair and New Labour prompted him to back Scargill, vocally and financially. "I don't know why the people didn't return him. I don't know what's wrong with them," he says.

One thing of which he's certain is that the Labour Party has been hijacked and that New Labour isn't doing "any good whatsoever".

There are the haves and the havenots, he says. Of course, he's moved into the first category thanks to an acting career that's seen him move from Brookside's trade union organiser Bobby Grant through series such as Cracker and Clocking Off to the regal glory of The Royle Family.

"I don't know whether I'm a good left winger," he admits. "I bounced back, had a little bit of time in jail and that was a great learning experience. The governor of Leicester Prison, who was an ex-bricklayer, gave me The Ragged Trouser Philanthropist to read and that changed me."

His comic turn as Jim Royle in The Royle Family is probably his most memorable TV creation and fans will be pleased to know that Tomlinson thinks he will return despite writer Caroline Aherne's declaration that she won't write any more episodes.

"I'm a little bit like James Bond - I believe in never saying never," he explains. "There is going to be a Christmas special, a documentary and out-takes which are hilarious. And I think when Caroline comes back after a well-earned rest, she may well do more Royle Family. I hope so. It's been very good to me."

The ever-honest Tomlinson doesn't play down the closeness between him and the character. "There's about 99 per cent of him in me," he admits. "I mean, I'll have a moan when the phone bills come in, and go around at home switching all the lights off, even when there's someone in the room occasionally.

"I'm not getting the violin out but I come from a working class family. There were six of us in a two-bedroom house. I have known genuine hard times."

That doesn't mean he'll do anything for cash. He turned down "a huge sum of money" to pose nude in a magazine. "Can you imagine people going into a shop and saying, 'give us that mag with Tommo in the nude'?," he laughs. "I wouldn't do that but I bared all in Riff Raff and Nasty Neighbours. My arse has been on the telly more times than Mel Gibson's."

Tomlinson's exposing his flesh in his new film Mike Bassett: England Manager. This comedy tells, fly-on-the-wall documentary style, how first division manager Bassett gets the job of running the national side - not because of his skills but because no one else is available.

Comedian Bradley Walsh, who co-stars as Bassett's faithful aassistant Dave Dodds, has first-hand knowledge of the beautiful game. He was a professional footballer until he was in his mid-20s when fracturing both ankles within three months ended his soccer career. "I played for love. If you had asked me to pay, I would have paid you," he says.

"Nowadays footballers have gone the other way and are holding people to ransom. It's the supporters who are being squeezed. Some dads can't afford to take their kids to see the football. It's a really bad situation.

"I imagine if I'd kept playing I would have been in a second or third division team now, or a manager somewhere. Then again, being in show business and being in comedy is exactly the same job as playing football for Brentford."

Tomlinson played in a pub team when he was younger but reckons he made the right decision not to pursue it. "I would not be playing football at 62. With acting you can carry on longer," he says.

He feels grateful and lucky for his success, trying to give a little bit back by doing charity shows. Fundamentally, he hasn't changed. "I still live in the same place, drink in the same pubs and go to the same places," he says.

He used to have a season ticket to the Kop but, like Walsh, dislikes the way the game has gone. "I don't think it should be catering for corporate clients and businesses. It should be for the working class. It's been stolen from them. Give it back to schoolkids. That's why we have no genuine world champions because we don't encourage it. I'm not just talking about football. Our athletes don't get any help. There's tons and tons of Lottery money, give them some to bring out their potential."

There's no doubt whom he credits with encouraging him - his mum. "I owe everything to her. She's 86 and she's incredible. She's on a stick and moans because she can't get up to do her own housework. She used to take me to the hospital, because I was asthmatic, in the snow for me treatment.

"You used to have to pay the doctor in those days and she did three jobs and me dad was a baker. They have worked all their life just to bring me up. If I could give her everything I've got it wouldn't be a fraction of what I owe her."

* Mike Bassett: England Manager (15) opens in cinemas on September 28.

Published: 21/09/2001