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.
To view posts on a specific subject, from both during and after my time in Parliament, please click one of the buttons below.
These are the main subjects on which I’ve written. Click here to view the full list of categories.
Here is the link to my Bluesky account, and here is the link to my Twitter/X account. You can also view my Facebook page and LinkedIn profile.
Click on ‘Contact’ below to get in touch with me.
This feed refreshes intermittently. Please log in to X (Twitter) to view my newest tweets in full.
This, from Will Hutton in the Observer today, is well worth reading
Privileged to be at very moving @RemSrebWestMids Memorial Breakfast at @YMCANS in Stoke-on-Trent on Wednesday. Probably my last time speaking as WM Chair. Thanks to all for your support over past three years #YMCANS
“A reset of UK policy towards Israel and Palestine by Andy Burnham will demonstrate his values and help earn him public trust.”
Welcome to my latest Parliamentary newsletter. I publish regular newsletter updates to keep local people informed about my work in Parliament and in Birmingham. If you would like to receive a copy of my newsletter each month by email you can sign up here. 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 …
55 people killed by live fire in one day and over 2,770 wounded. It was the deadliest single day in Gaza since Israel’s attack in 2014. Hospitals in Gaza, already at breaking point from shortages of essential medical supplies report more abdominal, chest and head wounds than from shootings of demonstrators buy the Israeli military in previous weeks. The respected Israeli human rights …
Today the House of Commons debated the relocation of Channel 4. In March Channel 4 announced its 4 for All the UK Plan to increase its presence across the country and create a new National HQ and two creative hubs outside of London. Our region deserves its fair share of investment from the UK’s national broadcasters. Moving its headquarters to Birmingham would also be a smart and forward-looking …
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 Northfield Leisure Centre, the Windrush Generation and other issues. As ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch …
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 …
Uncomfortable as it may be for us to recognise and address, a thread of antisemitism has been present in parts of the Left for many decades. By Richard Burden Originally published by HuffPost, April 24, 2018 The recent debate on antisemitism which took place in the House of Commons was heavily oversubscribed with many more MPs wanting to speak than there was time available. As one of those who …
Decisions about the circumstances in which UK forces should be sent into action are amongst the gravest that any government can take. In a modern democracy, government also has a responsibility to listen and the elected Parliament should not be cut out of the process that precedes those decisions being made. Yesterday I stressed to the Prime Minister the importance of Parliament being consulted …
Decisions about the circumstances in which UK forces should be sent into action are amongst the gravest that any government can take. In a modern democracy, government also has a responsibility to listen and the elected parliament should not be cut out of the process that precedes those decisions being made. That, however, is what has happened this weekend. The Prime Minister could and should …
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 …
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.
