On Monday 23 February, as part of Fair Pay Fortnight, the Trades Union Congress published statistics by parliamentary constituency on the living wage. The TUC’s analysis shows that nationally one in five jobs pays under the living wage – which is currently set at £9.15 in London and £7.85 across the rest of Britain. But the national average does not tell the whole story. The figures show...
In my experience, people in this area don’t like Conservative Ministers making flag waving visits whose purpose is only to promote their local Party cheerleaders, not to face up to the problems their policies are causing to real people locally. We’ve seen quite a few ministers descending on Northfield like this recently. Only this week we have seen the Prime Minister himself boasting that four...
Birmingham MPs were active in the Commons yesterday on behalf of our City. I raised the issue of school crossing patrols and the unfair financial settlement being imposed on Birmingham by the Conservative Government. Gisela Stuart from Edgbaston called for a radical overhaul of the way local government is treated so Birmingham can better meet the challenges and opportunities our City faces. As...
This week, on World Cancer Day, we heard that half of the UK population will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
That is a staggering figure. And it is a reminder of why can never stop campaigning to save the lives of more cancer patients. There are over 1600 cancer cases diagnosed in the Northfield are every year, and sadly over 800 deaths from cancer in our local area too.
Every child should be able to walk, cycle or scoot to school safely. But far too often our roads are just too dangerous for them to do so. Two thirds of primary school children think streets in their community are unsafe for walking and cycling. And no wonder. Figures released today show that in 2014 the number of children killed or seriously injured rose for the first time in 20 years. So it’s...
Today is National Voter Registration Day!
Raising awareness of National Voter Registration Day is even more important as parents can no longer sign up adult children and Universities can no longer sign up students.
It only takes 5 minutes to #RegisterToVote online, do it now: .
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.