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.
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Click on ‘Contact’ below to get in touch with me.
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Why the voice of patients must stay independent.
My response to important new report from @TheKingsFund
While the eyes of the world are on Iran, Israel is using the opportunity to deepen its illegal occupation of the West Bank…
BREAKING: Overnight, under cover of the Israel–Iran war, Israel allocates another 574 million ILS (≈$155m) to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, and 9 million ILS (≈$2.4m) to the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, spearheading attacks on humanitarian organisations.
In
People in #Gaza are still living in dire conditions while humanitarian aid is being blocked.
On 28 February, the Israeli authorities closed all crossings into the Gaza Strip, raising concerns about food security and fuel supplies needed to sustain humanitarian operations.
The Chancellor should use this week’s Autumn Statement to cancel the government’s new year 3p per litre petrol tax rise that will hit local people hard when it comes into force on 1st January 2013. At a time when the cost of living is rising, our recovery is fragile and this out of touch government is giving 8,000 millionaires an average tax cut of over £107,000, it cannot be right to hit middle …
The International Development Committee has today published a new report on UK aid to Rwanda.
The report says that the UK should not provide general budget support to Rwanda in future since, according to the recent UN report, the Government there is continuing to support the M23 Rebel Group fighting in the DRC.
Last week saw an end to the long and sad saga of the MG Rover trust fund.
It is now more than seven and a half years since the Phoenix Four made their promise to set up a trust fund for former MG Rover workers, when the company closed in 2005.
After seven and a half years of waiting, the money – initially anticipated to be in the millions – has never appeared.
This week the United Nations General Assembly is expected to vote on upgrading the recognition of Palestine at the UN. Today I have written an article for the Huffington Post calling on the UK government to support Palestine at the UN without preconditions. “Proper recognition of Palestine by the UN General Assembly is not the same as peace in the Middle East, but it is a step on the road …
The International Community must press for an immediate ceasefire, not only “restraint”. My article in the Huffington Post today is online here. You can also help the people of Gaza in a practical way by donating to Medical Aid For Palestinians’ emergency appeal online here. See more about MAP’s work online here. Gaza: Leaders play to the Gallery, the innocent suffer but will the …
There have now been hundreds of delays and cancellations of London Midland services in the West Midlands because of driver shortages in the last few weeks. Last week, on Tuesday alone more than 60 scheduled train services were cancelled or altered. Why has London Midland suddenly found themselves in the position of not having enough drivers? All companies experience turnover of staff but …
Today’s announcement by Ford is a real blow for Southampton and is a sad end to more than 100 years of Ford vehicle assembly in Britain.
Ford have been in Southampton since they acquired a factory in 1953, first used to assemble Spitfires in World War II, and it has been the home of the Transit van for the last 40 years.
Elections for Police and Crime Commissioners will be taking place in three weeks time on Thursday 15th November.
Today Ed Miliband launched Labour’s campaign for the elections at Deepdale Stadium in Preston.
Read Ed’s speech online here
There have now been countless delays and cancellations of London Midland services in the West Midlands because of driver shortages. Today alone more than 60 scheduled train services have been cancelled or altered.
Why has London Midland suddenly found themselves in the position of not having enough drivers? All companies experience turnover of staff but presumably that should be planned for.
I was delighted to join Councillor Peter Griffiths to open the new sauna at Northfield Leisure Centre earlier today.
You can find out more about using the centre online here.
At the Labour Party Conference this week Ed Miliband talked about how the economy is not working for ordinary people, about increasing costs and the squeeze on people’s living standards. About how we need to build a One Nation economy that works for all of us, not divide the country between the richest and the rest. The reality of parents unable to feed their children is one of the starkest …
A quick video from the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, where there has been a great reaction to Ed Miliband’s speech.
Will you be a Labour +1 to help make Britiain a fairer place and change things for the better?
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.
