This year’s Remembrance events have been special in so many ways. Most obviously, of course, it is 100 years since the outbreak of World War One. In June it was also the 70th anniversary of D-Day in World War Two. This is also the year in which British combat troops leave Afghanistan; a conflict that has claimed the lives of 453 UK service personnel in the past thirteen years. In amongst the …
After Parliament’s historic recognition of Palestine in October, I wrote the following article for the Chartist on the implications of the vote. The UK Parliament’s vote on October 13 to recognise the state of Palestine was, by any standards, historic. Some close to the Israel government have since sought to rubbish it, claiming that somehow Labour MPs were forced by Ed Miliband to vote for …
I know how fed up people are about the way Governments and Councils behave. Sometimes it seems like politicians are all show, talking a different language and not listening to what people are saying to us. I have always tried to be a different kind of politician – taking up the issues that matter to local people and giving residents a say in the decisions that matter to you. So I am really …
Lots of local people have written to me about the Recall of MP’s Bill, which is currently being considered in Committee Stage in the House of Commons. I absolutely support the principle of right to recall when an MP has done something wrong. I think it would be really important for strengthening our democracy – and may go some way to help to restore public trust in politics. I do not …
I am delighted that Bromsgrove Council have refused the planning application for a crematorium off New Inns Lane on the Birmingham/Bromsgrove border. As I said in the representations I put to Bromsgrove Council on this , there were just too many unanswered questions about how the extra traffic could have been accommodated on that road.
“Back to the Future” was the theme of the first ever Light Festival at Longbridge on Saturday. Hopefully, it will be the first of many. And “Back to the Future” pretty much summed up the theme of my whole weekend.
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.