Last Tuesday (16 April) I attended the launch event for Holocaust Memorial Day 2014. Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is commemorated each year on 27 January, marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death and concentration camp. HMD provides an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides (in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and …
Last Friday (12th April) I met with senior representatives of Birmingham City Council to discuss how the City can take up the challenge issued by the Birmingham Commission on Youth Unemployment in January to create at least 1,000 jobs for young people in Long Term Unemployment. The Commission called for a Birmingham Jobs Budget to be set up. Not long after its report was published, people were …
I was delighted to attend the Pride of Longbridge on Saturday. By respecting our community’s heritage, we can help build our community’s future.
I was also fortunate enough to present the prizes with Simon Bennett from Longbridge’s MG Sales Centre for the very first MG CD Racer Competition.
This week is the tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. It may always be remembered as the defining chapter of Tony Blair’s era as Prime Minister. Having been an MP throughout those years I know that the 1997-2010 Labour governments were about so much more. The new hospitals, refurbished schools and National Minimum Wage all bear witness to this. So too does Britain’s leadership in the …
Today – 22nd March – is World Water Day. The day provides the opportunity to highlight the global water crisis and the wider impact it has on education, health, gender equality and peace. During my recent visit to Ethiopia with the International Development Committee I was reminded why clean water and sanitation need to be at the heart of development. They are not just essential needs – they also …
One bit of good news in today’s Budget (read my main response here) was that the government said they are backing Lord Heseltine’s report for a new pilot which will allow the Birmingham area to decide local priorities when it comes to investment in jobs and infrastructure.
Again, though, this will not work properly without the resources to make it happen.
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.