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.
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Click on ‘Contact’ below to get in touch with me.
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Why the voice of patients must stay independent.
My response to important new report from @TheKingsFund
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.
Today I am launching my final report on immigration: Northfield Talks Immigration
Many of you will recall the immigration survey and public meeting I held over winter. My report is a sum of the findings from the survey and key themes that were highlighted by local people during the Northfield Talks event.
A local resident from Kings Norton has recently launched a petition about the need to tackle homophobia in schools across the UK. Addressed to the Prime Minister David Cameron, and Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan MP, it calls on the Government to make tackling homophobia in schools a top priority – including through education of pupils about non-heterosexual relationships …
Yesterday, I was delighted to represent the Labour Front Bench in a debate on Harvey's Law. As Labour’s Shadow Roads Minister, I was pleased to help the campaigners from "Harvey's Army" to secure a commitment from the Minister so all Highways England contracts will reintroduce mandatory procedures for scanning and logging dogs found run over on motorways and other roads that they manage. As the …
A number of constituents have got in touch with me over the last few months regarding concerns about broadband – specifically access to superfast broadband. I want to hear if you or anyone in the area, has problems with accessing superfast broadband. Please get in touch. You can check if you have access to superfast broadband by using the postcode checker here: For further information please get …
Post by Richard Burden for Northfield.
Events yesterday suggest Tory Ministers are even more like buses than I first thought.. The other week, I commented on the fact that you rarely see a Tory Government Minister in Northfield until there is an election in the air. Then they all seem to arrive at once. Like buses. I have now discovered that they are even more like a badly-run bus company than I first thought. It’s not just that …
On Monday 23 February, as part of Fair Pay Fortnight, the Trades Union Congress published statistics by parliamentary constituency on the living wage. The TUC’s analysis shows that nationally one in five jobs pays under the living wage – which is currently set at £9.15 in London and £7.85 across the rest of Britain. But the national average does not tell the whole story. The figures show …
A few weeks ago we saw the publication of an ambitious new report looking into how digital technology can help shape the future UK politics. The Commission was ground-breaking in a number of ways and its’ conclusions are broad and ambitious. I would encourage anyone interested to read it via their impressive interactive website. I also wanted to offer a few thoughts on the five key …
In my experience, people in this area don’t like Conservative Ministers making flag waving visits whose purpose is only to promote their local Party cheerleaders, not to face up to the problems their policies are causing to real people locally. We’ve seen quite a few ministers descending on Northfield like this recently. Only this week we have seen the Prime Minister himself boasting that four …
Birmingham MPs were active in the Commons yesterday on behalf of our City. I raised the issue of school crossing patrols and the unfair financial settlement being imposed on Birmingham by the Conservative Government. Gisela Stuart from Edgbaston called for a radical overhaul of the way local government is treated so Birmingham can better meet the challenges and opportunities our City faces. As …
This week, on World Cancer Day, we heard that half of the UK population will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
That is a staggering figure. And it is a reminder of why can never stop campaigning to save the lives of more cancer patients. There are over 1600 cancer cases diagnosed in the Northfield are every year, and sadly over 800 deaths from cancer in our local area too.
Every child should be able to walk, cycle or scoot to school safely. But far too often our roads are just too dangerous for them to do so. Two thirds of primary school children think streets in their community are unsafe for walking and cycling. And no wonder. Figures released today show that in 2014 the number of children killed or seriously injured rose for the first time in 20 years. So it’s …
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.
