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.
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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:
Well, well. I hear David Cameron has parachuted into Longbridge today. You know the kind of thing: quick photo opportunity with hard hat, Tory candidate in tow and meet as few local people as possible. We've seen quite a few of these flag waving visits from Tory ministers in recent months. It's a pity the rest of us couldn't ask Mr Cameron a few questions during his whistle-stop today, about what …
I am very concerned with the huge amount of money that big companies avoid paying in taxes. This is not just a problem here in the UK but across the world. Countries are losing billions each year and the impact of globalisation has made it ever more difficult to pin down dodgers. The UK tax code is very extensive and technical. The loopholes which companies exploit are technically legal and when …
Community leaders in Northfield have joined together to co-author a response to the tragic events last week (Friday 24th).
Read it here: Northfield community response – 20 April 2015
Millions of people in this country are struggling on low pay at the moment. The economy may now be recovering – but it is the slowest recovery the country has seen in a hundred years and I know that many people in the Northfield area just are not feeling the benefits of it all. People are on average £1,600 a year worse off since the Conservative-led Government was elected in 2010. Far too …
Lots of local residents have written to me with their concerns about shale gas extraction – or fracking.
Firstly, I am absolutely clear that shale gas extraction – or ‘fracking’ – should only go ahead in the context of robust regulation, comprehensive monitoring and strict enforcement, and in a way which is consistent with decarbonising our electricity supply by 2030.
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Today is ten years to the day since the collapse of MG Rover in Longbridge. Like other people who live around here, I will never forget the scenes at Q Gate at the plant on the morning of 8th April, 2005. 6,000 people lost their jobs. But it wasn't only that loss that was devastating. The collapse affected whole families, and the community here that MGR had been at the heart of for so long.
Last year's fire at Northfield's Manor House was devastating news for everyone concerned about the heritage of our area.
Since then I have pressed Birmingham University for updates. You can see here a briefing I received from them last month shortly before Parliament was dissolved. This gives an outline of the work which is being carried out.
Rachel has two children, aged 4 and 10. She is a care worker on the minimum wage. She recently had her hours cut and is now losing tax credits too. She is also being asked to pay £14 per week Bedroom Tax. It's difficult for her to make ends meet. Anne Marie, from Frankley, is also being charged Bedroom Tax since her marriage split up and her son left home. She is disabled. Her case exposes the …
Last Friday, Cllr Pete Griffiths and I welcomed “Mr Pothole” to Kings Norton. Mark “Mr Pothole” Morrell is national campaigner for better road maintenance who I have got to know and respect as Labour’s Shadow Roads Minister. The purpose of the visit was to look at how Birmingham City Council’s Highways contract is being managed by Amey PLC, using Rednal and …
We all know how fed up people can be with the way the world of politics can seem. Often it can feel like political parties are speaking a different language and bombarding you with buzz words. In 2010, at the last general election 40% of those eligible chose not to vote at all in our constituency. That’s why I need your help. I need your help to help me reach all those people who are not engaged …
Scores of local people have written to me over the past few weeks to ask where I stand on our NHS – whether I will fight privatisation and support a well-funded, public health service in the future. Put simply, as your Labour MP I will back the NHS as a public health service and ensure it can provide the care we all rely on. I am absolutely committed to protecting our NHS for the reason 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.
