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.
Israel has killed at least 71,662 Palestinians and injured at least 171,428 since the beginning of its genocide in Gaza.
Our Chair, @RichardBurden27 , was proud to represent @RemSrebWestMids at the @HMD_UK Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Birmingham yesterday #RememberYesterdayActToday
Organised. United. Ready to fill the streets with hope and unity.
Share this post to help spread the word. We are growing. We are building. We are #Together.
Leadership means understanding your part in building a social movement, not believing you are the personification of one. By Richard Burden Originally published by HuffPost, July 24, 2017 Traitors, backstabbers, Red Tories, Blairite plotters … all of us who have called for a change in Labour Leadership have had these kinds of labels thrown at us in recent weeks. Often they come from keyboard …
Last week, I attended the PACTS and Direct Line Constituency Road Safety Dashboard Awards. This reinforced the need for smarter focus on the issue of road safety as well as promoted a fantastic online tool on road safety progress called the Dashboard. Road safety is very important and must be promoted in order to ensure the safety of everyone, particularly at-risk groups. The event highlighted a …
Yesterday I sent out an email to local Labour members and supporters in the constituency. You can read my thoughts below: Dear Friend, As a local Labour member, I am sure you will want to know the latest on arrangements for Labour’s leadership election. You may have heard that most Party meetings have been put on hold by Labour’s National Executive Committee so I want to let you know about …
Three weeks ago it all felt so different. Britain had not yet voted to leave the European Union. The Pound had not plummeted. The Bank of England had not yet had to step in to steady the situation. The Prime Minister had not announced his resignation and the UK’s major political parties had yet not appeared to be in turmoil. None of us have lived through anything quite like this before and nobody …
Read and watch my question to the Prime Minister on the long-awaited publication of the Chilcot Report into the Iraq war: “May I also ask the House to pause for a minute to remember Robin Cook, who had the courage to speak up against the orthodoxy of the day, and the courage to speak out as a voice of sanity in 2003? The sequence of events that led to the UK’s participation in the invasion …
Tomorrow, the Chilcot Report into the Iraq war will finally be published. Ahead of publication, my thoughts have gone back to how it felt in the House of Commons – and outside – at the time. Sometimes it is easy to get hindsight mixed up with what we knew at the time, as we approached a conflict that was going to have such a profound effect on the Middle East and beyond. It was a …
On Wednesday I urged the PM to put mechanisms in place so Birmingham and Midlands voices are heard in preparatory talks and negotiations with the EU over Brexit.
Watch it here:
I have just sent the below letter of resignation to Jeremy Corbyn. I have done so with a heavy heart. Jeremy is a friend and someone who I have worked with for many years. However, I hope the attached letter of resignation sets out why I believe the current situation has become untenable and cannot be allowed to continue any longer. You can also find links below to copies of the letter I sent to …
Yesterday I wrote to members of my Constituency Labour Party on the challenges ahead after last week’s referendum. This is what I said: Dear Member/Supporter, Describing the events of the past week or so as momentous doesn’t really come close to it, does it? Britain votes to leave the European Union of which we have been part of for over forty years. And by doing so our country enters …
Friend, comrade and fellow boat-dweller. Rest in peace, Jo. You made a difference and we will miss you x
Yesterday I pledged my support for Carers Week 2016. Across the UK there are 6.5m people providing unpaid care for an ill, older or disabled family member or friend, with 11,243 of those in Birmingham Northfield. There are also a lot of people who do not identify themselves as carers because they see what they do as part and parcel of family life, helping to support those closest to them when …
You have until 23:59 tonight to register to vote so that you can have your say in the EU Referendum. Registering only takes a few minutes and this is the last chance you’ll have. Even if you’re not sure about voting or what your decision is, at least register so that you have the option to vote two weeks from now – you may regret not being able to vote! This is a moment where you control the …
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.
