Refugees from Gaza with family in the UK face both Kafkaesque barriers from the UK government and extortion at the border between Rafah and Egypt. A family I know is experiencing both. Before going into that, though, let’s get one thing clear. The way to end the suffering in Gaza is an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access into the Strip, it is one hundred per cent unacceptable to …
This is a statement I made in my capacity as Healthwatch Birmingham & Healthwatch Solihull Chair, which was published on the Healthwatch Birmingham website: The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report into University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) shows just how far the new leadership team has to go in earning the trust and confidence of staff who have suffered under the …
The boundaries between legitimate protest, abuse and intimidation are again in the spotlight. It is not the first time this has been an issue. I wrote about this subject in 2016 when I was an MP. Those of us who rightly call for the carnage in Gaza to stop – and stop now – must certainly reject intimidatory abuse in support of that cause. But nobody should pretend such abuse has ever only come …
The International Court of Justice has reminded Israel that it has already ordered it to “ensure the safety and security of the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip” – including in Rafah. The onslaught on Rafah that Netanyahu is threatening would be a clear breach of that order and illegal. How will history judge the international community if we just carry on making polite requests to Israel …
“The most worrying finding is that patients are not always protected from harm.” I am chair of Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull. This was my first statement on the new CQC report into University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust: In some respects, the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report into University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) is a picture of …
With more than 68 ships per day passing through the Suez Canal, carrying 12 percent of all goods traded in the world, it has been impossible for the international community to ignore the escalating attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea that Yemen's Houthis have launched over the past two months. In that context, the decision of the US and the UK to take military action against Houthi bases …
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.