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.
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.
Parking has been an issue facing both passengers and residents near Northfield Railway Station for some time. The overspill of vehicles, unable to use the often full station car park, is having a knock on effect on those living in the vicinity of the station who wish to park near to their homes.
As a frequent passenger using Northfield and Longbridge stations, I too share these frustrations.
Pupils of Kings Norton Primary School took part in a sponsored tree planting in Kings Norton Park last week.
The pupils, joined by staff from Deutsche Bank in Birmingham, helped to plant 10 standard trees and several hundred small trees. Local Labour Councillor and Birmingham’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Steve Bedser, was also there to lend a hand.
The developers of the new Longbridge town centre being built on the former MG Rover site have put together a fascinating fly through video, bringing the vision for the area to life.
You can watch the video online here.
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.