On 17 July 2014 there was a backbench debate on the current situation in the Middle East in the House of Commons. Given the number of constituents who have written to me about what is is going on in Gaza I wanted to share the speech I gave that afternoon.
Richard Burden MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Britain - Palestine, responding to the news of Scarlett Johansson's resignation as a Global Ambassador for Oxfam, said:
Last month, the Amnesty International Group in Bournville, South Birmingham, asked me to address them on my work as a member of the International Development Committee of the House of Commons. This article taken from what I said to the meeting. After 8 years on the International Development Select Committee (IDC), my appointment as Shadow Transport Minister means I have had to recently step down …
I've discovered that a driving holiday in rural central France with intermittent internet access is not the best way to hear that Parliament has been imminently recalled, or the best place from which to act on the information. Result? The logistics of getting back in time have beaten me and I'll still be on the road back to the UK when Parliament meets tomorrow. As my name won't be recorded by …
Today the House of Commons Committee on Arms Exports, that I am a member of, publishes a report concluding that the UK’s human rights policy is being fundamentally undermined by the scale and nature of arms exports licences being approved by the Government. It also finds that the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestine Territories is of severe concern.
There is enough food in the world to feed everyone. But every year 2.3 million children die from malnutrition. If we’re going to put a stop to this global injustice we need radical change. Hosting the G8 in Northern Ireland today and tomorrow (17-18 June), the UK once again has the opportunity to demonstrate its ability to show global leadership. Alongside hundreds of charities and Ivan Lewis …
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.