Richard Burden MP, Chair of Britain-Palestine All-Party Group has today accused Cabinet Office Minister, Matthew Hancock, of trying to duck Parliamentary Scrutiny for new restrictions on public sector procurement and ethical investment decisions, stating last week’s announcement should have been made to MPs, rather than on a visit in Israel.
WELCOME NOTE Welcome to my first newsletter of 2016. This newsletter goes through some of the most recent developments and initiatives I have been campaigning on including protecting funding for the Birmingham-based Illegal Money Lending Team who prosecute backstreet loan sharks and calling for the safeguarding of local council’s rights to ethically invest. Also in the news are the ongoing …
As you may have heard, the national Boundary Commission has been reviewing the numbers of Councillors there should be on Birmingham City Council in the future and the boundaries of the areas from which they should be elected to represent. Those areas are known as “wards” as I am sure you know. I wrote an article recently for the Bromsgrove Standard, but I wanted to write another piece to tell you …
Today, the 27th January, marks Holocaust Memorial Day and the 71st anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. The day provides us all with an opportunity to remember the millions who were killed in and affected by the Holocaust and other genocides.
Here’s a test for you. Is Rubery in Birmingham or in Bromsgrove? And if Rednal is in Birmingham, what about Rubery-Rednal? And are Rubery and Rednal in Longbridge or is Longbridge in Rubery and Rednal? Or are they all next to each other? Confused? You should be. It all sounds a bit like one of those riddles you used to get at school, doesn’t it?
Yesterday I met with a number of student representatives to show my support for their opposition to the government’s student finance changes. The Tories have said they will be completely cutting the availability of maintenance grants to students, effective from September 2016. These maintenance grants are in place to support students from the poorest backgrounds and more than half a million …
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.