Every year around 10,000 parents have to face the unimaginable grief of losing a child. Nobody expects to bury their own child and when struggling to cope with the worst possible experience they will ever have to face, bereaved parents have the added worry of finding funds for a funeral they never expected to be planning. No parent who has gone through the heartbreaking experience of losing a …
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, – one of the sites where the largest mass murder in history took place. Millions of Jewish people, gypsies, homosexuals and others were murdered simply for who they were. Holocaust Memorial Day reminds us not only of the importance of commemorating the …
The End Child Poverty coalition has today published figures providing a new Child Poverty map of the UK. The figures reveal that more than half of all children in the UK’s very poorest areas are now growing up in poverty – compared to one in ten, in the areas with the lowest child poverty rates. In Northfield 34% of children are living in poverty and four constituencies in Birmingham feature in …
Welcome to my latest Animal Welfare Round-Up. This is a newsletter I regularly send out to update you on the issues that many of you get in touch with me about. My latest update covers the action I’ve taken on your behalf in the latter months of last year and the start of 2018.
Undoubtedly there is great concern regarding the impact that Carillion’s liquidation will have on people and businesses in the West Midlands. It is vital that an urgent assessment is conducted to assess the impact of Carillion’s liquation on our region. I have been in close contact with Birmingham City Council Cabinet Member for Jobs and Skills, Brett O’Reilly and to consider what steps can be …
Aldi are consulting on an initial proposal for a new store off the Redditch Road, Kings Norton. A public exhibition is being held on Thursday 18th January from 3pm to 7pm at North Hall, St Nicolas’ Place, The Green, B38 8RU to enable residents to find out more about the proposals. Along with Councillor Peter Griffiths and local Labour campaigner, Alex Aitkin, I would encourage local residents to …
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.