Welcome to my latest Parliamentary newsletter. This covers local issues and developments as well as my actions in Parliament. As ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me on these or any other issues. Best wishes, Richard In Birmingham Northfield Boundary Review The Boundary Commission published their proposals for changes to Parliamentary constituency boundaries in England...
Last week it was a pleasure to declare my support for the Royal British Legion and Poppyscotland’s ‘Count Them In’ campaign. This calls for questions on the Armed Forces community to be included in the next UK census. There are over 6 million members of this community in the UK, but little is known about their exact numbers, location and needs. It is important that we know these...
Yesterday I pledged my support for Carers Week 2016. Across the UK there are 6.5m people providing unpaid care for an ill, older or disabled family member or friend, with 11,243 of those in Birmingham Northfield. There are also a lot of people who do not identify themselves as carers because they see what they do as part and parcel of family life, helping to support those closest to them when...
#Toryporkies in Northfield 2016 – have a look at this scare story being peddled in Conservative leaflet going out in Northfield at the moment and then read on for the truth. Anyone in the Northfield area remember Conservative campaign here during the General Election last year? Remember the candidate who spent a fortune claiming to have made Kings Norton her home and how much she loved the...
On Tuesday (15 March) I held a debate in Parliament calling on the Government to speak the truth on new anti-boycott rules which many fear represent an unprecedented attack on democracy. The rules, announced last month, by a Government minister during a visit to Israel – without any parliamentary or public scrutiny – aim to ban public bodies including local councils and universities from refusing...
In the last month my team and I have referred about the same number of people to the foodbank for assistance as we did in the ten months before that. By Richard Burden Originally published by HuffPost, 24 December, 2015 Last week, I called in to say hello at Northfield’s local Trussell Trust foodbank. Back in the Commons I always hear Government ministers talk about Britain’s strong...
I was Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 and a former Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull, and the West Midlands Board of Remembering Srebrenica. I also work as a public affairs consultant. I am an effective community advocate and stakeholder alliance builder with a passion for human rights. I am a trustee of the Balfour Project charity and of Citizens Advice Birmingham, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.