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.
Disgusting desecration and destruction of Commonwealth War Graves in Gaza .
Having visited the cemeteries in Gaza myself and met the Palestinians who care for them, the enormity of this feels personal for me https://richardburden.com/2024/11/gazas-commonwealth-war-graves-remembering-the-past-and-facing-the-present/
Israel has killed at least 71,662 Palestinians and injured at least 171,428 since the beginning of its genocide in Gaza.
Our Chair, @RichardBurden27 , was proud to represent @RemSrebWestMids at the @HMD_UK Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Birmingham yesterday #RememberYesterdayActToday
I wanted to let residents in the Allens Cross Area know that Post Office Ltd have sent me a letter outlining changes they are considering making to the Post Office on Merritts Brook Lane. A copy of their proposals for the area can be found here. They want to know local people’ views on this and you can see how to give yours on this letter too. Along with local Labour campaigner for the Allens …
With prices rising faster than wages, the last few years have been tough for public sector workers – including those in the NHS, who work incredibly hard, and often in challenging circumstances. It is a scandal that this Government went against the advice of the NHS Pay Review Body. George Osborne has broken his promise that there would be a 1% rise in public sector pay until 2015. If the …
Today I will cast my vote in Parliament to support UK recognition of the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel. The principle at stake here is a simple but key one for anyone seeking a just and durable solution to the conflict in the Middle East. Do we treat Israelis and Palestinians as equals or not? For Israelis, recognition of their state is something they have expected from the …
Poor old George Osborne. His government’s privatisation of Royal Mail seems to be hitting his own department even harder than the rest of us. Can you imagine – a letter he sent from his office in the House of Commons to another MP’s office took no less than five days to arrive? And guess what? The office which did not receive the letter for so long was mine.
Thursday’s rejection by Birmingham City Council of Sainsburys’ plan to build a new store on the car park of the Navigation Inn in Kings Norton is a tribute to the efforts of local people and businesses. A plan by the Co-op to build a supermarket facing The Green has also been knocked back. Reports in the press suggest that the Co-op may come forward with a re-designed scheme. Labour’s local …
Ludicrous. A lottery. These are just some of the terms being used to describe the Government’s approach to roads maintenance, after the Public Accounts Committee issued a damning report into funding arrangements this week. The all-party committee of MPs responsible for scrutinising public spending have concluded this Government’s stop-start approach to roads maintenance funding is wasting …
People from the local Labour Party in Northfield were out with me today in support of the NHS. I say “local” because the Conservative Party are holding their national conference in Birmingham and their London HQ is boasting that they are going to bus large numbers of people attending the conference from different parts of the country down to Northfield on Sunday afternoon. Their job …
Ahead of the recall of Parliament tomorrow, I want to update local people about my view on IS and the current situation in the Middle East. Like many British people, I opposed the US/UK invasion of Iraq in 2003. I believe that some of the chaos we now see in that part of the world today is, at least partly, a legacy of that action. But I do not believe that affects the urgency of the situation in …
Just a short note to keep you up to date with where things are up to with The North Worcestershire Golf Course issue. Last Friday (19th September) I attended a public meeting with Bloor Homes which was organised by the Council's Longbridge Ward Committee. @b31Voices tweeted regular reports from the meeting as it was taking place but I thought It may also be helpful for me to do a round-up of what …
Thanks to businesses and residents in Kings Norton for the comments you have sent to me about the planning applications from Sainsburys and the Coop to build new stores next to or near Kings Norton Green.
I know many Northfield residents will have been worried by this article which has appeared in the Birmingham Mail. So I wanted to write to update local people about the action I and Chair of Birmingham’s Northfield District Committee, Labour Councillor Brett O’Reilly, have taken in response. We have called for an investigation into the issue of the Spectrum Swimming Club and …
Lots of local people continue to contact me about the future of Northfield's leisure facilities. For the latest update please read this article on B31 Voices about the City Council's Cabinet Meeting on the 15 September 2014 - at which the future of the pool and leisure centre was discussed. After the recent local consultation and residents meeting chaired by Labour Councillor and Northfield …
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.
