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.
While the eyes of the world are on Iran, Israel is using the opportunity to deepen its illegal occupation of the West Bank…
BREAKING: Overnight, under cover of the Israel–Iran war, Israel allocates another 574 million ILS (≈$155m) to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, and 9 million ILS (≈$2.4m) to the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, spearheading attacks on humanitarian organisations.
In
People in #Gaza are still living in dire conditions while humanitarian aid is being blocked.
On 28 February, the Israeli authorities closed all crossings into the Gaza Strip, raising concerns about food security and fuel supplies needed to sustain humanitarian operations.
Well over half a million people forced from their homes in Lebanon by Israel’s invasion and bombing. Why isn’t there more of an international outcry at the enormity of what Israel is doing there?
NEW: The Israeli military unlawfully used white phosphorus over homes on March 3, 2026, in the Lebanese town of Yohmor.
The use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4bdqxDt
Hundreds of you have got in touch with me about the Assisted Dying Bill. The Bill comes up for debate in the House of Commons this Friday (11th September). Over the past weeks and months I have sent individual replies to as many people as possible. However, the sheer quantity of e-mails I have received – both for and against the Bill – means that I have not been able to get back to everybody …
This week Parliament returns from its summer break. One of the first things I will be doing in Westminster is leading a debate on funding cuts to West Midlands Police. In the last five years West Midlands Police has received funding cuts twice that of other forces according to the independent National Audit Office. Whereas the West Midlands has been cut by nearly a quarter (23%), Surrey Police …
Throughout the summer, many people have written to me about the situation in Syria and the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis. Many have been about speculation that the UK Government is considering participating in military action in Syria. More recently, even more have focused on the huge refugee crisis which has been unfolding. Here I give some of my thoughts on both issues. The scenes in …
Last month a large gathering of Labour Party Members and Supporters met to review the lessons of the recent elections, and to work out how best we can move forward.
Before we broke into four workshops (see below), I opened the event with some personal reflections on the election and on the future. Read my notes here.
It's not only in politics that a week is a long time. Last week our TV screens were dominated by scenes long queues of stationary lorries stacked up along the M20; of holiday makers stuck in jams; of residents unable to get out of nearby Kent villages and of local businesses losing trade with customers unable to get to them and orders unable to get out. All of them victims of a perfect storm of …
So the deadline has now passed for people to register as Labour supporters to have a vote in the Labour Leadership election. Amid stories of malign infiltration by some Tories and others, Labour is right to check the genuineness of applications before ballot papers are issued. But let’s be clear, the fact that thousands of new people feel motivated to join the debate about the future of Labour is …
We know that politics has to change. That means more than the Labour Party changing. But we can do our bit. And that is why this time not only will every individual Labour member have a vote, but people who support our Party will have a say too. I will be voting for Yvette Cooper to be Leader and Tom Watson as Deputy. But the votes of MPs like me will count for the same as those of everyone else …
Welcome to my second Animal Welfare Round-Up, where I regularly update you on some of the animal causes I have been campaigning on. You can read my inaugural AWRU #1 by clicking here.
I stepped back in time this week, taking to WaterAid’s Victorian Street to mark 150 years of Britain’s modern sewers. I was exposed to the sights and smells of an era in which sewage and waste littered our streets, roads and rivers. Over a third (39%) of the world’s population today still live without sanitation, this is why supporting international developed and UK Aid is so crucial, and why …
Lots of people have been in touch with me through emails, letters, tweets and Facebook about yesterday's debate in Parliament over the Conservative Government's Welfare Reform and Work Bill. Given the way events have unfolded over the past week and how it has been reported in the media, I can understand the genuine concerns that people have been raising. Let me say at the outset that I am …
Just over two weeks ago, Labour members and supporters -old and new - met at the Factory Youth Centre in Longbridge to discuss our victory in Birmingham Northfield, our defeat nationally and the challenges and opportunities facing Labour over the coming five years. Workshops were on themes ranging from low pay to housing; from children and young people to the economy and the role of the private …
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, IPSA, have now announced their decision in respect of the future of MPs' pay. As the name suggests, IPSA is independent of Government and of MPs ourselves. Before IPSA made its final decision, I set out my view about its proposals several times over the last year. I thought the proposals were ill judged, particularly when average pay rises …
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.
