Former
Welcome to my website and blog.
You can read a bit more about who I am and what makes me tick here. A summary of the work I did when I was Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 can also be found here.
The older posts on here date from my time as an MP but I have continued to blog since leaving Parliament.
The opening paragraphs of my blog posts appear at the bottom of this page in reverse date order. The “Read on” buttons take you to what I have written in full. My posts below also contain links to articles I have written and which have been published elsewhere, together with posts imported from my own Facebook page.
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These are the main subjects on which I’ve written. Click here to view the full list of categories.
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Israeli forces are said to have dropped more explosives on Gaza than fell on London, Dresden and Hamburg combined in the Second World War. The level of destruction is hard to fathom as is the humanitarian suffering.
Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent @SecKermani looks at the…
Some personal reflections on what Remembering Srebrenica means in 2025 – for Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the wider world and here in the UK..

“Two years after 7 October and the kidnap of my parents, hate is in fashion. For all our sakes, we need compassion” | Sharone Lifschitz | The Guardian
Remembering all those killed and those taken hostage in southern Israel two years ago today. Thoughts with those who lost loved ones and solidarity with the families of those still held in captivity.
This by @JeremyBenAmi, who lost friends that day, is very powerful. #October7
Two years after October 7, @JeremyBenAmi writes that to honor the victims and end the cycle of horror, we must reclaim a word too often scoffed at and shied away from: Peace.
🔗 https://jstreetdotorg.substack.com/p/two-years-after-october-7-it-is-time
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 …
Yesterday I led a debate in Parliament calling for legal aid to be granted for the families of the victims of the Birmingham Pub Bombings. The families are contesting a ruling by the Coroner that suspects cannot be identified during the reopened Inquest into the Birmingham Pub Bombings. They won their case in the High Court. The Coroner has lodged an Appeal as he has every right to do. While the …
A cross party group of 23 MPs and Peers have today written to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson calling on him to outline what steps he will take to secure the release of British-Sudanese national Dr Sidqi Kaballo. Dr Kaballo is detained without charge or trial after participating in peaceful protests in Khartoum on 16th January 2018. Today on Dr Kaballo’s 70th birthday MPs and Peers who are …
On Tuesday I will be calling for legal aid to be granted for the families of the victims of the Birmingham Pub Bombings. For years, families of the victims have already had to overcome many hurdles to get answers about what happened on that fateful day of 21st November 1974. They had to fight for an inquest in the first place and they had to fight to be granted legal aid. They eventually won that …
Today I am in Parliament to support two important Private Members Bills – the Refugee Family Reunion Bill and Unpaid Trial Work Period Bill. The Refugee Family Reunion Bill would give unaccompanied refugee children in the UK the right to be reunited with their parents. Current laws mean that many refugees are prevented from being joined by their close family members. These refugees have …
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 …
The monsoon and cyclone season is coming and time is running out to save thousands of Rohingya refugees from imminent landslides and flood disaster. By Richard Burden Originally published by HuffPost, March 10, 2018 Even before visiting the Bangladesh/Burma border area last week, my work as a member of the House of Commons International Development Committee meant I knew a fair amount about the …
Birmingham’s nine Labour MPs have today written to the Chief Executive of the Legal Aid Agency calling on him to reverse the Agency’s decision to refuse Legal Aid to the families of 10 of the victims of the Birmingham Pub Bombings at the Court of Appeal. The families are contesting an appeal by the Coroner, Sir Peter Thornton QC, against a High Court ruling that he should reconsider his decision …
Today is World Book Day, a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and most importantly reading. The aim of World Book Day is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own. The theme of this year’s Day is ‘Share a Story’ and World Book Day is encouraging a daily ten-minute storytelling slot to make …
Today I joined GKN workers at a lobby of Parliament organised by UNITE the Union to call on the Government to intervene in the hostile takeover bid for GKN by the Melrose company. GKN are one of Britain’s oldest and largest engineering companies making automotive and aerospace components. The GKN Aerospace plant at Kings Norton makes specialist aircraft windscreens . Along with the GKN workers I …
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 …
The recent revelations of abuse and sexual exploitation in the aid sector have rightly caused outrage and, as a Member of the House of Commons International Development Committee, I was this week at a special committee hearing to look into what has gone on. The hearing did not only provide the opportunity for the Committee to take evidence from charities and the Government about what they have …
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.
