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..

I have been contacted by a number of people over the past week about my nomination for the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Make no mistake, this has been a big decision and it is one I have thought very closely about. Firstly, that decision has been difficult because the current contest has revealed problems in the present rules for nominating MPs. Requiring the backing of 35 MPs is …
I'd already used the station as a passenger but this week, I also got an update briefing at Birmingham New Street to see how the redevelopment project is unfolding. I used the opportunity to call again for action to improve transport connections to Longbridge and surrounding areas. I believe that the potential Longbridge gives the area is undermined by poor facilities at the railway station.I …
As passenger I already use #Brum New St Station Phase1. @tamworthcarol & I were briefed on Phase 2 progress todaytwitter.com/tamworthcarol/…
— Richard Burden MP (@RichardBurdenMP) June 10, 2013
This week data from NHS England shows that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital A&E which serves the Northfield constituency has missed the target of seeing 95% of patients within four hours in 28 out of the last 30 weeks. This is a crisis that has started on the Government’s watch. When Labour left office, 98% of patients in A&E were seen within four hours. But since 2010 the number of people waiting …
At a Birmingham Made Me panel discussion on "the regional sustainable economic model" today I had one key point to make. Alongside other MPs, business leaders and policy makers, I wanted to stress that the exciting creative economy emerging in Birmingham must unlock growth and innovation across the city- and reach places like Northfield, Longbridge and Frankley if we are all to prosper.
Sainsburys have recently put in a planning application for a biomass boiler at their new Longbridge store. This is the letter that 3 local Labour Councillors – Andy Cartwright, Jess Phillips and Ian Cruise – and I have sent to Birmingham City Council in response.
201306 – Biomass letter June 2013
Last week I met over 35 children and young people from within the care system in the Midlands. Alongside other regional MPs Steve McCabe and Craig Whittaker , local councillors, The Children’s Commissioner for England and social work professionals, we discussed whether young people in care are receiving everything they are legally entitled to. 'Passport to Parliament' aims to engage young people …
On Tuesday evening (4th June) I held my very first “Ask Me Anything” using my Twitter and Facebook pages. As promised I did my best to answer as many questions from Northfield constituents as possible within the intended hour-long chat. In the end I stayed on for an extra 15 minutes and answered a total of 25 questions. Topics that were discussed ranged widely. Local issues that were brought up …
I am a member of the House of Commons International Development Committee (IDC.) Today, we launched a report on Global Food Security – a huge issue both within the UK and overseas. High and volatile food prices are rarely out of the news at the moment, especially after the two recent shocks in global food prices in 2008 and 2011. Only last week I helped to lead a food drive for Northfield Life …
Just 5 days until my first Ask Me Anything! 4 June, 5.30- 6.30pm, visit my website for more info: richardburden.com/2013/05/ask-me… #ASKRB
— Richard Burden MP (@RichardBurdenMP) May 30, 2013
Welcome to my first column. I’m excited to start sharing my parliamentary perspective with Motortrades Insight, and the online automotive community. As a West Midlands MP with Longbridge in my constituency, an interest in automotive kind of goes with the territory, but it’s more than that. The automotive industry has been in my blood for as long as I can remember. And when I say “automotive”, I …
Amazing generosity from local people for #LifeLineFoodBank. Thanks to Northfield @sainsburys for hosting collection twitter.com/RichardBurdenM…
— Richard Burden MP (@RichardBurdenMP) May 30, 2013
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.
