News that the Birmingham City Council will rebuild Northfield Pool and Leisure Centre on the existing site puts an end to months of speculation following last year's public consultation on the issue. You can read some of the background to the issue here. During that consultation, many residents and traders emphasised the importance of retaining a central Northfield location for the new leisure...
This week, on World Cancer Day, we heard that half of the UK population will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
That is a staggering figure. And it is a reminder of why can never stop campaigning to save the lives of more cancer patients. There are over 1600 cancer cases diagnosed in the Northfield are every year, and sadly over 800 deaths from cancer in our local area too.
It’s two weeks into the New Year and we’re at the point where many of us forget about our resolution of shedding a couple of pounds. With that in mind, this week is National Obesity Awareness Week. Almost a quarter of children in Birmingham (23.4%) are classified as obese, compared with 10.1% nationally. Meanwhile the number of recorded cases of diabetes is double the UK average, affecting almost...
I know how much local people value our NHS. Sixty six years after the then Labour government created it, the principle that everyone – rich or poor, man, woman or child – can use any part of our health service is more important than ever. But during this parliament it has undergone huge and damaging changes. £3 billion has been wasted on a top-down reorganisation that the Conservatives...
With prices rising faster than wages, the last few years have been tough for public sector workers – including those in the NHS, who work incredibly hard, and often in challenging circumstances. It is a scandal that this Government went against the advice of the NHS Pay Review Body. George Osborne has broken his promise that there would be a 1% rise in public sector pay until 2015. If the...
All political parties try to grab headlines and present stories in a way that makes a political point. But there are bottom lines. That is why it is just not right to manufacture stories to discredit your opponents and scare local people in the hope of getting votes for yourself. Unfortunately, that seems to be what at least some Conservatives are trying to do in Northfield right now. They have...
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.