Syria – my letter to the Prime Minister

Foreign Affairs, Middle East, National issues, World

30 November 2015

1 minute read

2,559 views

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This morning I wrote to the Prime Minister to seek further clarification about his plan and strategy for air strikes in Syria. Here is a copy for you to read:

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UK MILITARY ACTION IN SYRIA – THE ISSUES

Crime and safety, Foreign Affairs, Middle East, World

26 November 2015

3 minute read

2,090 views

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Today, MPs had the opportunity to question the Prime Minister about his proposal for the UK to directly participate in air strikes against Daesh (ISIS) in Syria. I set out my thoughts on the issue of military action in Syria in a piece I wrote two months ago. Given the threat that Daesh poses to people of all faiths and of none in both the Middle East and closer to home, it is only right that …

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Let’s #DoDemocracy better

Birmingham, Education & children, Local, National issues, News, Northfield area, Political reform, Young People

23 November 2015

3 minute read

2,134 views

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As part of a campaign to increase engagement with politics, I recently took part in a national campaign to connect young people with Parliament and democracy in the UK. Last week (16th- 22nd November) was Parliament Week, and to mark this year’s event in our area on, I visited a local school in my constituency, St Laurence Church Junior School, to speak at the school assembly. There I introduced …

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NORTH WORCESTERSHIRE GOLF COURSE – UPDATE

Birmingham, Communities, Culture, media and sport, Housing, Local, Northfield area

22 November 2015

3 minute read

1,991 views

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A resident living close to North Worcestershire Golf Course wrote to me last week to tell me that he had seen a copy of a recent letter from the Management Committee of the Club saying that they intend to close the Club with effect from March 2016. The resident who wrote to me asked if this meant that the land at the Golf Course will definitely now be redeveloped for housing. This does not …

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This is an unfair education policy

Birmingham, Communities, Education & children, Jobs, business & economy, Local, National issues, Northfield area, Young People

10 November 2015

3 minute read

1,569 views

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A number of constituents have been in touch recently with various concerns about the UK Government’s policy towards further and higher education. Students, teachers and parents in Birmingham are rightly angry. The Government’s is scrapping University maintenance grants for the poorest students, rewriting the terms and conditions of student loans, and now there are concerns over Government …

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Government incompetence leaves our Police in the lurch

Birmingham, Crime and safety, Local, West Midlands

9 November 2015

4 minute read

2,379 views

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To describe the Government’s twists and turns over the way our Police are funded as a shambles would be putting it charitably. That was the message from an emergency statement where the Police Minister was forced to apologise to the House of Commons today. Confused? You should be. It would all be comical if it wasn’t so serious. But it is serious. Very serious. It is about nothing less than the …

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Living Wage Week 2015

Birmingham, Jobs, business & economy, Local, Northfield area, West Midlands

4 November 2015

3 minute read

1,876 views

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On Monday I was at the Birmingham launch of Living Wage Week 2015 where the new rate for the Living Wage outside of London was unveiled - rising from £7.85 per hour to £8.25 per hour. When I say "Living Wage", I mean the real one - a figure produced from independent research into what people in the UK need to get by. It's not about luxuries. It reflects the real cost of living taking into account …

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Don’t Lose Your Right to Vote

Birmingham, Local, Northfield area, Political reform, West Midlands, Young People

2 November 2015

2 minute read

1,754 views

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Under changes introduced by the Government, thousands of people across Birmingham and West Mercia could lose their right to vote unless they individually re-register. The registers with the largest predicted drop off tend to be in urban areas with a high incidence of multiple occupancy housing, regular home movers and large numbers of historically low propensity registering voters. According to …

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Fighting for Fairer Police Funding

Birmingham, Communities, Crime and safety, Local, Northfield area, West Midlands

1 November 2015

3 minute read

2,387 views

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When the West Midland comes together, we can get results. That is the message from recent changes to the way the Government allocates funding for Policing across different parts of the country. West Midland Police has already been hit hard by government cuts of over 20% in the last five years. On top of that, however, there were real fears that our region could be hit even harder in comparison to …

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Transport Secretary must come clean about UK’s role in allowing cars to pollute above legal limit

Environment, energy & climate change, Motor industry, Motor industry / motorsport, National issues, Transport

30 October 2015

2 minute read

2,035 views

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Following the recent VW scandal, EU Member State representatives agreed on 28th October at Technical Committee to tighten EU emissions testing rules – and then appeared to give open-ended permission for cars to breach the EU’s own limits by 50% in real live driving conditions.

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Animal Welfare Round-up Issue #3

Animal welfare, National issues

29 October 2015

3 minute read

1,707 views

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Welcome to my Animal Welfare Round-Up, where I regularly update you on some of the animal causes I have recently been campaigning on.

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VW emissions affair

Motor industry

21 October 2015

2 minute read

1,720 views

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UK Drivers are being left in the dark due to mixed messages from ministers. By Richard Burden Originally published by HuffPost, October 21, 2015 The UK Government must come clean on what they knew and move quicker to end uncertainty for drivers. Almost a month after Volkswagen’s use of “defeat devices” to evade regulatory emissions limits in the USA became known, it is clear …

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