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 former Facebook page. My current Facebook account is here.
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 view my latest Facebook posts here. I also have a 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.
More than 100 French and British former diplomats have said Palestine is being erased in front of the world’s eyes and called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state.
This is pitch-perfect.
Skepticism over statements on these matters is appropriate, but this appears to be different. We cynics on Jerusalem matters are always right – until we aren't.
The real test comes when the actual measures are announced and put in place. Let's hope.
E-1
The Israeli Government’s launch of tenders for the E1 settlement project is unacceptable and destructive. Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two state solution. My statement:
Protecting the independent voice of patients and the public: How Yvette Cooper can demonstrate Andy Burnham’s new approach to government in practice:
Last year’s independence referendum, and the massive increase in support for the Scottish Nationalists at the General Election, have inevitably focused attention about how and where decisions should be made across the different nations of the UK. It’s also clear that big questions must be answered about how power is devolved – not only to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but within …
Unless the new Government stops ignoring concerns, and ends the complacency, I fear that only further chaos looms ahead. By Richard Burden Originally published by HuffPost, June 11, 2015 New Government, same problems. This week saw the final abolition of the ‘Counterpart Driving Licence’ – the green paper sheet holding a drivers’ convictions and entitlements. It has been …
This is my inaugural animal welfare round-up where I will regularly update you on some of the animal causes I have been campaigning on.
I am regularly in contact with many local people regarding issues of animal welfare. I believe strongly that there is no place in a civilised society for animal cruelty and often raise these concerns with the UK Government.
I have been contacted by many people over the past few weeks about my nomination for the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Make no mistake, this has been a big decision and it is one I have thought very closely about.
This week (1-7 June) marks Volunteers’ Week which is a chance to celebrate the contribution that volunteers make in the community.
To all volunteers in our area, thank you. Your work is central to building a community spirit and creating a more participatory society.
This week I listened to David Cameron set out his ‘One Nation’ Queen’s Speech for ‘working people’. After having heard him deliver it, I’m not convinced that the Prime Minister quite understands what either of those phrases mean.
It is difficult to know quite what to say after what has been the longest general election campaign in recent memory.
Join the local party and help shape Labour’s future. If you were one of the 17,000+ local voters who supported my re-election, from a £1 a year you can become a Labour member. Everyone who has been involved in the last few weeks knows there was a real buzz about our successful campaign here in Birmingham Northfield and that there was a real sense of shared purpose. Across the country …
Earlier this year it was revealed that the Northfield constituency has the worst record in the country for low pay. Over 50% of people in this area are paid less than the living wage of £7.85 an hour – reaching up to 63.1% for women. As I said at the time, it is an absolute scandal that over half of local working people are not being paid enough to provide properly for themselves and their …
VICTORY FOR LOCAL PEOPLE AS PLANNING INSPECTOR REJECTS THE APPEAL BY SAINSBURYS TO BUILD SUPERMARKET ON SITE OF NAVIGATION PUB… News has just come through that the Independent Planning Inspector has rejected an appeal by Sainsbury’s to build a supermarket on the site of the Navigation pub, near Kings Norton Green. Your local Labour team – Richard Burden, Councillor Peter Griffiths and …
Sikhs are a valued part of our community both here in the West Midlands and nationally. It is really important that the voices of Sikhs are heard, so I welcome the publication of the Sikh Manifesto which rightly highlights the enduring historical bonds between Sikhs and the UK – as well as key present and future issues. These range from better recognition of Sikhs in public life here in 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.
