In recent years, the rise in the number of people requiring the support of food banks has been alarming and the past year has been no different. Figures released yesterday by the Trussell Trust, the UK’s biggest food bank network, reveal that food banks provided record levels of emergency food supplies last year. The Trust provided 1.3 million three-day food packages for people in crisis, with …
Welcome to my latest Parliamentary newsletter which gives me the opportunity to wish you a Happy Easter! Space prevents the newsletter covering all of what I have been doing over the past month. However, hopefully it provides a flavour of some of the local issues I have taken up as well as my actions in Parliament. You’ll find updates on local planning applications, legal aid for families of the …
Today, I was among the MPs from different parties across the House of Commons who argued for Government to intervene over the hostile bid by Melrose for GKN. GKN is one of Britain’s oldest and largest engineering companies making automotive and aerospace components. GKN Aerospace’s Kings Norton plant in my Birmingham Northfield constituency specialises in aircraft windscreens. I am extremely …
Welcome to my latest Parliamentary newsletter. Space prevents the newsletter covering all of what I have been doing over the past month. However, hopefully it provides a flavour of some of the local issues I have taken up as well as my actions in Parliament. You’ll find updates on North Worcestershire Golf Club, local government funding and other issues. As ever, please do not hesitate to get in …
Local charities and community groups in the Northfield area have the opportunity to apply for funding between £500 and £20,000 raised by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. Today the latest funding rounds for the People’s Postcode Trust, Postcode Local Trust and Postcode Community Trust have opened for applications. Between 14 and 28 February 2018, charities are being urged to submit an …
Residents living close to North Worcestershire Golf Course will know that in August 2017 a renewed application by Bloor Homes to build 950 homes on the site of the old golf course was rejected by Birmingham City Council. Bloor Homes have now lodged an appeal with the government, in an attempt to overturn this decision If you submitted comments to Birmingham City Council when the planning …
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.