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 former Facebook page. My current Facebook account is here.
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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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Never forget the crimes against humanity that international inaction allowed Radko Mladic to commit in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When the world says “Never Again” we have to mean it.
He was held responsible for the killing of over 8,000 Muslim men and boys
Read in full: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rakto-mladic-dead-bosnia-serbia-genocide-b3040343.html
RIP Dolly
More than 100 French and British former diplomats have said Palestine is being erased in front of the world’s eyes and called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state.
This is pitch-perfect.
Skepticism over statements on these matters is appropriate, but this appears to be different. We cynics on Jerusalem matters are always right – until we aren't.
The real test comes when the actual measures are announced and put in place. Let's hope.
E-1
Today MPs debated the possible UN membership of a Palestinian state. The debate, which was secured by Richard Burden MP, took place two weeks before Palestine is expected to ask the United Nations to recognise an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders. Mr Burden, who chairs the Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group, used the debate to call on the government to recognise an …
Representing a seat in the West Midlands I know how important the automotive industry is to the UK. Across the country it is an essential part of the glue that binds our economy together. Over the last year the All-Party Parliamentary Motor Group (APMG), which I chair, has brought together parliamentarians, ministers, officials, industry representatives and trade unions to discuss key issues …
The Home Secretary must urgently clarify this situation. It is important that everyone should be aware of what is fact and what is conjecture. Guilt should be on the basis of evidence and conviction, not by innuendo, allegation or association.
I am backing Age UK’s campaign against government plans to accelerate the state pension age which could see 500,000 women across the country waiting for more than year longer for their state pension than promised under the Coalition Agreement. The government’s proposals will hurt thousands of hard-working women who believed their retirement was just around the corner. Almost 10,000 women in …
You may have seen the news last week that the Phoenix Four, the former bosses of MG Rover, have been disqualified as company directors.
The independent inquiry into the collapse of MG Rover, which reported its findings in 2009, was damning for the Phoenix Four. The picture that emerged was of millions being made not from the engineering of cars but from the engineering of company finances.
All of us who want to see a peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict should welcome the news that Fatah and Hamas have reached a reconciliation agreement. It is especially positive that young people in Palestine have pushed so strongly for this reconciliation. These non-affiliated youth groups have been inspired by pro-democracy movements across the region to organise demonstrations …
Yesterday former MG Rover employees, MG Rover and Austin enthusiasts, community groups and the new MG car company all came together in Cofton Park to celebrate our pride in Longbridge. Pride of Longbridge was a wonderful day. A celebration of why the name was synonymous with the motor industry throughout the 20th Century. It was great to see Austin, MG and Rover enthusiasts swopping stories with …
Today I was in Longbridge to watch the first new MG6 roll off the production line. This is a real milestone for Longbridge and for the automotive industry in the West Midlands.
Longbridge has been through dark days. Nobody around here will forget how it felt, six years ago this week, when the MG Rover plant closed its doors for the last time and over 6,000 people lost their jobs.
In the light of recent events in Libya and elsewhere, the latest report from the House of Commons Committee on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) rightly questions UK policy to date in exporting arms to Middle Eastern and North African countries where there is a clear risk they could be used for internal repression. The report also has some stinging comments about UK policy on arms sales to Israel. Over …
A new report from the Britain Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group (BPAPPG) has highlighted the widespread detention of Palestinian children, by the Israeli state.
The UK government today announced that it is upgrading the Palestinian Delegation to London to the level of a Mission. You can read the FCO statement online here.
I am pleased that the government has upgraded the Palestinian Delegation and increased their diplomatic recognition in the UK.
Many constituents have been in touch over the last six months with their concerns about the bid by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to take total control of BSkyB.
You may have seen today’s news that Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, has approved News Corporation’s plan to spin off Sky News, clearing the way for its proposed £8bn purchase of the 61% of BSkyB it does not already own.
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.
