Last week was National Apprenticeship Week. I was delighted to celebrate the start of the week by attending an event on apprenticeships in the motor industry organised by the Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders and Semta. In particular it was great to meet Carolyn Lee and James Doughty, two new Jaguar Land Rover apprentices from the West Midlands. If anybody ever doubted the value of …
As we approach the 10 year anniversary of the war in Iraq there is inevitably a great deal of interest, once again, in the issue. I was one of the 139 Labour MPs who opposed the war and voted against the government in the House of Commons on 18th March 2003. The issue had dominated much of the debate – both inside Parliament and across the country – for the months leading up to that …
Over the last year I have been raising the issue of local primary schools being forced – and often bullied – by Michael Gove’s Department for Education into becoming academies. One of the main problems has been a complete lack of transparency, with schools unable to get dispassionate guidance from government officials or even to get them to put information in writing, and …
In recent months I have been contacted by numerous constituents who share concerns over the upcoming welfare reform changes that are being introduced by the government, and how these changes will impact them.
Many Birmingham residents will be affected by the changes. Birmingham City Council have published a guide to the changes, which can be found online here.
Delighted to join Jaguar Land Rover apprentices from the West Mids at @smmt event celebrating #NAW2013 twitter.com/RichardBurdenM…
— Richard Burden MP (@RichardBurdenMP) March 11, 2013
Over 13,000 households in Birmingham will be hit by the government’s new Bedroom Tax.
New figures released by the National Housing Federation this week estimate that 13,315 households in Birmingham – including 1,375 here in the Birmingham Northfield constituency – will be affected when the tax starts in April.
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.