“This is a bitter blow, not only to the 6,000 people who work at Longbridge, but to their families and to the thousands of others whose own livelihoods are intertwined with that of MG Rover. When BMW pulled out 5 years ago, I was one of 80,000 who marched to save Rover. Together, government, unions and the communities of the West Midlands came together and the closure threat to Longbridge was …
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab): Amid the speculation in the press about the progress of negotiations between MG Rover and Shanghai Automotive, does my right hon. Friend agree that we must keep at the forefront of our minds the 6,000 employees at MG Rover, the employees’ families, the communities that depend on MG Rover and the businesses whose futures are intertwined with MG …
Richard Burden MP, Chair of the All Party Motor Group and whose constituency includes MG Rover’s Longbridge plant, said today: “I am sure that many of tomorrow’s headlines will be dominated by reports that the Phoenix directors have put another £4m into their pension pot and by confirmation that they have now received payments from the multi-million pound loan note. Like many other people, I am …
The Phoenix Directors have given me some more information about the reports that have appeared in the press recently. They have explained their rationale for some of the ways in which the companies in the group – including MGR Capital – have been structured. In response to a specific question from me, they have also reconfirmed that all the proceeds from the sale of surplus land at …
At a meeting of the Council’s Northfield District Committee on 12th February, I was told that the bus company, Pete’s Travel, had taken the Fordrough, Houldey Road and Slingfield Road off the 634/635 bus route. Residents had been given virtually no notice of this change. I spoke to both Centro and Pete’s Travel and they accepted that the route for this bus should not have been changed without …
Richard Burden MP (Birmingham Northfield) will meet managers and employees at BMW’s Powertrain plant tomorrow as the German company prepare to sell the engine production facility. Mr Burden is expected to press for a speedy resolution to the sale and sees the benefits of transfer to the neighbouring MG Rover plant. Mr Burden said: “As their major customer, it would make good sense if MG …
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.