Richard Burden

Former Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield

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.

Local
National
Motor
WORLD

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.

Contact
Recent tweets

This feed refreshes intermittently. Please log in to X (Twitter) to view my newest tweets in full.

Richard Burden Follow

Former MP/Shadow Minister.Chair https://t.co/0IKRce2GXY. Chair @RemSrebWestMids.Trustee @BritPalProject.Fellow @The_IMI. Ex Chair @MedicalAidPal.Own views

RichardBurden27
richardburden27 Richard Burden @richardburden27 ·
15 Jun

Roy Hattersley was a fellow Birmingham MP and a key figure in Labour for decades. We came from different wings of the Party but I always knew he was someone who never lost sight of the bottom-line principles that made him Labour. RIP

Reply on Twitter 2066433827195568321 Retweet on Twitter 2066433827195568321 Like on Twitter 2066433827195568321 5 View on 𝕏 2066433827195568321
richardburden27 Richard Burden @richardburden27 ·
10 Jun

Let’s call out what happened in Belfast last night for what it was – a pogrom. What a contrast with the hugely dignified response of Stephen Ogilvie’s family. Total respect for them as they face such an ordeal after the horrific attack on him.

Reply on Twitter 2064772315045417156 Retweet on Twitter 2064772315045417156 Like on Twitter 2064772315045417156 4 View on 𝕏 2064772315045417156
richardburden27 Richard Burden @richardburden27 ·
1 Jun

In otherwise wide ranging interview with Health Secretary, James Murray, regrettable that @BBCr4today didn’t ask why the new Health Bill, to be debated today will scrap independent patient and public voice in health &social care. Here’s why govt is wrong

Reply on Twitter 2061350446900330641 Retweet on Twitter 2061350446900330641 Like on Twitter 2061350446900330641 View on 𝕏 2061350446900330641
Load More

Latest posts

Cut the deficit in people’s life chances – new data on health inequality

Birmingham, Health & social care, Local, National issues, News, Northfield area, Young People
18 June 2013
5 minute read
1,971 views
C

Yesterday I celebrated a really exciting new project – Health for Life in Schools – that aims to provide primary schools children in South Birmingham will the skills to lead a healthy and active lifestyle for life. It was an excellent event – Forestdale and St John Fisher schools from my Northfield constituency were there, showcasing the work of staff and pupils to grow vegetables, encourage …

Read onRead later

Action needs to follow rhetoric at G8

Foreign Affairs, International Development, World
17 June 2013
2 minute read
1,975 views
A

There is enough food in the world to feed everyone. But every year 2.3 million children die from malnutrition. If we’re going to put a stop to this global injustice we need radical change. Hosting the G8 in Northern Ireland today and tomorrow (17-18 June), the UK once again has the opportunity to demonstrate its ability to show global leadership. Alongside hundreds of charities and Ivan Lewis …

Read onRead later

Birmingham protest against the bedroom tax

Birmingham, Housing, Local, National issues, Northfield area, Welfare
17 June 2013
3 minute read
1,783 views
B

On Saturday (15 May) I joined over 250 protestors outside Birmingham Council House to campaign against the bedroom tax. People receiving housing benefit, who live in council or housing association homes with a spare bedroom, face a choice between paying £600 more a year or moving home. But as I know all to well from my constituents, there often just isn’t a choice. The truth is there aren’t …

Read onRead later

Questions over the Labour Leadership Nomination

News
10 June 2013
3 minute read
1,303 views
Q

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 …

Read onRead later

Calling for a gateway to Longbridge

Birmingham, Local, National issues, Northfield area, Transport, West Midlands
10 June 2013
3 minute read
1,982 views
C

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 …

Read onRead later

Shocking A&E waiting times in Birmingham show you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS

Birmingham, Health & social care, Local, National issues, News, Northfield area, West Midlands
7 June 2013
3 minute read
2,061 views
S

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 …

Read onRead later

Birmingham Made Me – innovation needs to reach outskirts

Birmingham, Jobs, business & economy, Local, National issues, News, Northfield area, West Midlands
7 June 2013
3 minute read
1,670 views
B

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.

Read onRead later

Sainsbury’s Biomass Boiler Planning Application

Local, Northfield area
7 June 2013
1 minute read
1,515 views
S

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

Read onRead later

Recent Posts

Richard Burden

Avatar photo

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.

Get in touch

You can reach me by email at richard@richardburden.com or use the form on the Contact page to send me a message.