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.
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These are the main subjects on which I’ve written. Click here to view the full list of categories.
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Yes – West Midlands Police have serious questions to answer about their behaviour. But it is not the whole story. You wouldn’t know it from most of the commentary today, but this @TimesofIsrael piece provides important context around the Maccabi issue
Chair @SarahChampionMP has written with concern to Foreign Secretary @YvetteCooperMP over the Israeli Government’s treatment of @UNRWA and other INGOs, which run a range of services for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Read more: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/98/international-development-committee/news/211214/international-development-committee-chair-urges-foreign-secretary-to-act-over-unrwa-restrictions/
Trump’s coup in Venezuela didn’t just break the rules – it showed there aren’t any. We’ll all regret that | Nesrine Malik
I’m delighted to have been appointed by Ed Miliband to Labour’s Shadow Transport Team with responsibility for, amongst other issues, roads and road safety, motor agenices, cycling and future transport. Former Shadow Ministers Jim Fitzpatrick and Yvonne Fovargue did a fantastic job in raising automotive and local transport issues up the agenda, and I am excited to be building on these campaigns. I …
I have recently submitted evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee inquiry into the "educational underachievement of white working class children." Four years after I first raised this issue there remains a severe gap in educational achievement between poor and better off white children – and not enough action taken on the problem. I’m therefore very please the Select Committee have …
Despite the fact that 1 in 4 British adults experience at least one mental health problem every year, there remains a huge reluctance to talk about mental illness. A recent report by the charity Rethink Mental Illness revealed that over a third of the annual 100,000 ‘avoidable deaths’ in the UK are amongst people with mental health problems. This highlights the urgent need to tackle this stigma …
It’s been quite a September for MP's - and locally in Birmingham Northfield. At the Party Conference in Brighton, Labour set out how we will build a new future for Britain in 2015. Locally, you may have also heard that Deloitte were fined £14 million for failing to act in the public interest in the advice they gave to MG Rover and the Phoenix Four. I’m calling for part of this record fine to be …
I am very pleased to announce the publication of my mid-term constituency report. Over half way through the 2010-2015 Parliament I’m delighted to share what I have been doing to fight for a fair deal for Northfiel - my pledge for the 2010 General Election - and to let the people of Northfield know about my campaign for the area’s Climb to the Future.
This week I received a great welcome at Birmingham’s newest ambulance hub at Hollymoor Way in Northfield, which has been operational since July. During my visit, I saw the training facilities and the fleet garage where mechanics carry out servicing and repairs to front line ambulance vehicles – as well as the new management offices and rest rooms for staff – first hand.
Amongst the meetings and speeches I attended at last week’s Labour Party Conference, I got to see the fun side of things by playing some mini golf!! This was for a good cause of course – to raise awareness of the Guide Dogs’ Streets Ahead campaign which aims to help keep our streets free from clutter.
The Government’s announcement that Royal Mail will be floated on the Stock Exchange in the next few weeks will come as a disappointment to the many local people who have written to me recently opposing this sell-off. Ministers are pressing ahead with a politically-motivated sale of a cherished 372-year old institution to fill holes in the Treasury’s coffers which have been aggravated by the …
I was recently asked by the Fabian Society to answer a simple question – why does it matter? What difference would a Labour Government make?
Over recent years I’ve spoken to many local people in Northfield who are struggling to find work, and many more who are struggling on low pay or feeling increasing insecure and in their jobs. Nothing is more symbolic of this in-work vulnerability than the rise of “zero-hours” contracts.
I have recently received lots of signatures to a petition opposing the Revised EU Directive on Tobacco Products, set to be adopted in 2014. I think it’s important – given the amount of time and money spent by tobacco company's to oppose this policy – that some concerns surrounding the Directive are clarified so people can have a balanced debate about the issue.
Today a £14 million fine was imposed on Deloitte & Touche for their advice to the MG Rover Group and the “Phoenix Four" directors.But as we watch another twist to the MG Rover drama unfold, it’s important to remember what was important then – and what is important now. That is the 6000+ MGR workers who lost their jobs in the collapse, and the communities whose identity “the Austin” factory …
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.
