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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.
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Click on ‘Contact’ below to get in touch with me.
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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
I have added my name to a letter drafted by Labour’s Shadow Sports Minister, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, calling on the Football Association to fill empty seats at England matches with free tickets for schoolchildren. Wembley Stadium had 28,000 empty seats during the last England match and there are many schools in Northfield that would welcome the chance to offer young people the opportunity to be at …
Birmingham Northfield MP Richard Burden has called for Birmingham City Council to rethink proposals published today following its Early Years Health and Wellbeing Review. Under the review Birmingham City Council proposes to contract out children’s centre services to a consortium of the Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Barnardo’s Spurgeons children’s charity and St Paul’s Community Trust. The City …
To mark World Mental Health Day, I joined with 160 Labour MPs to ask the Prime Minister that she ring-fences mental health funding.
It’s time the Prime Minister’s words on mental health were translated into action. Ring-fencing mental health funding will get us one step closer to real equality for those with mental health conditions.
You can read the letter below:
Government cuts to public services are bad enough but it is even worse when investment is approved for projects, only to then be delayed and threatened through unnecessary bureaucratic wrangles. That, however, is what is happening on the Bournville Village Trust College Green development on the site of the former Bournville College on Bristol Road South. A new Health and Wellbeing centre is …
Welcome to my latest Animal Welfare Round-Up. This is a newsletter I send out every two months to update you on the issues that many of you get in touch with me about. This allows me to update you on the action I’ve been taking on your behalf on these issues. Increasing Animal Cruelty Sentences This issue is one that I’ve received the most emails from constituents about in recent months. Quite …
Birmingham Airport are proposing to change two of the flight paths into the airport and have informed me that some parts of the Harborne, Selly Oak and Weoley areas could be affected. The Flight path is called MOSUN and you can see the areas affected via this link to a map provided by the airport . More information on the new flightpath and the consultation documents published by the Airport can …
Why Pop thought the history books got it wrong about the sinking of Indefatigable at Jutland Originally published by HuffPost, June 10, 2016 I am no military historian, but this week’s centenary of the Battle of Jutland has a special significance for me. My grandfather, Harry Burden – known to successive generations of the Burden family as “Pop” – was there. Last week I visited the Jutland …
Brexit has dominated discussion in Parliament since before the election. At the moment Parliament is debating what the Government has called its European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. Ministers say the main purpose of the Bill is to sort out how EU law can be incorporated into the UK at the point of us leaving the EU in order to make sure gaps are not left in people’s rights and protections. As it …
Welcome to my latest Parliamentary newsletter. This covers local issues and developments as well as my actions in Parliament. You’ll find updates on the bin dispute, traveller sites and other issues. As ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me on these or any other issues.
Best wishes,
Richard
Richard Burden, MP for Birmingham Northfield, has today been awarded a parliamentarian road safety award by charity Brake and Direct Line. The award recognises Richard’s long-standing involvement in transport and his commitment to road safety, particularly during his time as Shadow Transport Minister between 2013 and 2017. Richard has established himself as a strong supporter of the transport …
Many constituents have contacted me recently about the upcoming European Commission vote on extending the ban on neonicotinoid pesticides to cover all crops. Bees play a vital role in the environment as well as food supply. It is right then, that both the Government and European Commission take steps to protect bees. As such, I wrote to the Government to share people’s concerns about the impact …
Local charities and community groups in the Northfield area have the opportunity to apply for funding as part of the Aviva Community Fund. The Aviva Community Funds awards funding of up to £25,000 for local community projects across a range of categories such as skills for life, health and wellbeing, and community support. The Aviva Community Fund will finance over 500 projects across the UK so I …
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.
