Today is ten years to the day since the collapse of MG Rover in Longbridge. Like other people who live around here, I will never forget the scenes at Q Gate at the plant on the morning of 8th April, 2005. 6,000 people lost their jobs. But it wasn't only that loss that was devastating. The collapse affected whole families, and the community here that MGR had been at the heart of for so long.
April 2015 will mark ten years since the collapse of MG Rover in Longbridge. I know people around here will never forget it. When the company closed in 2005 six thousand people lost their jobs and were left utterly exposed. But the impact went beyond those workers – the collapse affected whole families, and the community that MGR had been at the heart of for a century. This week I secured a …
Responding to the Government’s announcement for investment in Ultra Low Emission Vehicles from 2015-2020, Labour’s Shadow Roads Minister Richard Burden MP, said:
“We need to cut emissions on our roads if we are going to meet our climate change targets and improve air quality. But this Government has badly mismanaged funding for low emission vehicles, missing their investment target for 2010-2015.
You may have read recently that the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is refusing to discuss the landmark £14 million fine imposed on Deloitte & Touche for their advice to the MG Rover Group and the “Phoenix Four” directors, which is expected to be paid to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
This week I met with former world land speed record holder Richard Noble at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Bloodhound SuperSonic Car exhibition in the House of Commons.
Last week (Thursday 24 October), I was delighted to lead a cross-party visit of MPs and Lords to the McLaren Technology Centre, as part of an industry visit organised by the Motor All-Party Parliamentary Group and the Industry and Parliament Trust.
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.