So the deadline has now passed for people to register as Labour supporters to have a vote in the Labour Leadership election. Amid stories of malign infiltration by some Tories and others, Labour is right to check the genuineness of applications before ballot papers are issued. But let’s be clear, the fact that thousands of new people feel motivated to join the debate about the future of Labour is …
We know that politics has to change. That means more than the Labour Party changing. But we can do our bit. And that is why this time not only will every individual Labour member have a vote, but people who support our Party will have a say too. I will be voting for Yvette Cooper to be Leader and Tom Watson as Deputy. But the votes of MPs like me will count for the same as those of everyone else …
I stepped back in time this week, taking to WaterAid’s Victorian Street to mark 150 years of Britain’s modern sewers. I was exposed to the sights and smells of an era in which sewage and waste littered our streets, roads and rivers. Over a third (39%) of the world’s population today still live without sanitation, this is why supporting international developed and UK Aid is so crucial, and why …
I can rarely remember a Budget over which there has already been so much speculation, concern and fear. And the announcements we will hear on Wednesday are not even the annual budget the Chancellor is required to present every March. This is ‘an emergency summer budget’ – made necessary because the Tories pledged to make £12 billion in welfare savings before the Election, without any idea …
This week the Government published the annual statistics on reported road casualties in Great Britain. Behind these figures are personal tragedies for thousands of families up and down the country whose loved ones have been killed or injured on our roads. They should be a wake-up call for Ministers. After decades of progress, for some time there have been worrying rises in casualty rates for …
You may recall before the General Election, I did a call out for local people to get in touch if they had access problems to Superfast Broadband.
The response I got back, highlighted a number of random pockets in the local area – not-spots - that have no coverage and affect residents and even a school.
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.