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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.
Real elation that every living Israeli hostage is now free. Even one still held would have continued the nightmare. It carries on for many Palestinians Israel has abducted. I wrote about Dr Husam Abu Safiya in February . Why is he still in captivity?
Last week, our chair @richardburden27 published on his own website some personal reflections about what Remembering Srebrenica has meant for him this year.

Israeli forces are said to have dropped more explosives on Gaza than fell on London, Dresden and Hamburg combined in the Second World War. The level of destruction is hard to fathom as is the humanitarian suffering.
Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent @SecKermani looks at the…
Some personal reflections on what Remembering Srebrenica means in 2025 – for Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the wider world and here in the UK..

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 …
The Labour Party wants your ideas on how the next Labour Government will tackle the challenges facing Britain in 2015. We are looking at every aspect of Labour's policy - from our international role to education - to support the development of our next manifesto. Today I was pleased to submit my response to the Policy Commissions on Work and Business and Living Standards and Sustainability - both …
Scores of local people have contacted me over the past week to share their concerns on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, which received its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday 3 September.
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.
