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.
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..

This summer I was very pleased to welcome the start of over 100 new homes on Walkers Heath Road by the housebuilder Barratt Homes. In July I joined Barratt’s Managing Director Adrian Farr, as well as City Council Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing Steve Bedser and other local councillors to mark the start of construction.
The Northfield Labour Party’s Annual Dinner will be held on Thursday September 19th at the Edgbaston Priory Club, Sir Harrys Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2UZ. Our guest speaker is Tom Watson MP – someone well known to so many people up and down the country, not only as a tireless campaigner for Labour but also someone who has done so much to hold the Murdoch press empire to account. Tickets …
I've discovered that a driving holiday in rural central France with intermittent internet access is not the best way to hear that Parliament has been imminently recalled, or the best place from which to act on the information. Result? The logistics of getting back in time have beaten me and I'll still be on the road back to the UK when Parliament meets tomorrow. As my name won't be recorded by …
Urging Northfield communities to apply for HLF funding to mark the Centenary of the First World War With a year to go until we mark the centenary of the UK entering the First World War, I am urging local residents and community groups in Northfield to consider applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for community projects to learn more about the First World War. HLF is making at least …
You may have heard that the Government has recently announced a £94 million new funding commitment to improve cycling in the UK. I strongly welcome the news that the Department for Transport will now be investing £10 a head for cycling infrastructure in 10 cities – including Birmingham. As action to ‘Get Britain Cycling’ is an issue that lots of constituents have contacted me about, I have been …
I have been contacted by a number of local people about the new Home Office attempts to address illegal immigration. Let's be clear - the "Go Home" advans and UK Border Office spot checks are little more than right wing propaganda. Instead of an evidence based approach to tackle immigration and improve integration, the Tories are using tax payer’s money to secure a headline and calm their party's …
In addition to granting us some beautiful weather, Summer 2013 has also shone a light on one of the brightest industries our country has to offer – motor. On 12 July 2013 ‘Driving Success’, the first ever comprehensive industrial strategy for UK automotive, was launched by Government and leading industry bodies.
Read my thoughts on the strategy in a new blog for Motortrades Insight here.
Today I am shocked to reveal the full scale of the cost of living crisis taking place under David Cameron and George Osborne. Analysis of historical figures from the Office for National Statistics shows that David Cameron has been in Downing Street for 36 months of falling real wages – more than any other Prime Minister on record. And no other Prime Minister has seen so many consecutive months …
It has been a busy month in Westminster before MP’s left Westminster for the Parliamentary recess. This July I have launched new project to tackle youth employment, been campaigning against the scandals of rip-off telephone rates and pay day loans, and revealing some shocking truths about the Government’s policy on arms exports. It was also a month that saw another development in the drama of MG …
The accountants Deloitte have lost an appeal over a regulatory ruling that it failed to manage conflicts of interest in its advice to the MG Rover Group and the "Phoenix Four" directors, who bought the UK carmaker before it collapsed in 2005. It is highly concerning that the Tribunal found Deloitte and Mr Einollahi, the partner involved, to have demonstrated “a persistent and deliberate disregard …
In the glorious sunshine of the last few weeks I have been privileged to visit some major new redevelopments in our area – including the near completion of the Sainsbury’s store within Longbridge which will be providing 320 new jobs, and the start of work by Barratt to build over 100 new homes in Kings Norton. As MP’s have left Wesminster for the Parliamenary recess, the sun is certainly shining …
Over the past few weeks my postman in Westminster has been delivering a steady stream of postcards and letters from local people opposing the privatisation of Royal Mail. I completely agree. Along with my Labour colleagues I opposed the privatisation of this 372 year old British institution when the Government first introduced early in this Parliament – and oppose it now.
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.
