Former
Welcome to my website and blog.
I created it when I was Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019, and most of the posts on here date from that period. A summary of my Parliamentary career can be found here. You can also read a bit more about who I am and what makes me tick here.
I have continued to blog from time to time since leaving Parliament. 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.
This front page of my website contains the text (only) of my recent tweets and retweets on X and introductory extracts from my blog posts in date order. To view posts on a specific subject, from both during and after my time in Parliament, please click one of the buttons below.
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@Keir_Starmer Superdiverse Birmingham also has a sizeable white disadvantaged community whose education and other needs require attention. Some of what @RichardBurden27 said in 2009 is still relevant: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090519/halltext/90519h0011.htm
In Birmingham Northfield Police and crime meeting Last week I held a meeting on crime and policing in response to residents’ concerns in the Frankley and Great Park area of Longbridge. The meeting was well attended by local people and we were joined by West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson as well as the Longbridge Neighbourhood Police Team. Thank you to all those who...
It was a privilege this week to add my name to the Holocaust Book of Commitment in the House of Commons, organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust UK. It is important to commemorate those who died, but it is also important that we pay tribute to extraordinary individuals who survived and whose testimonies we must never forget.
Last week, I held a meeting on crime and policing in response to resident concerns in Frankley and Great Park. Thanks to everyone who joined West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson and the Longbridge Neighbourhood Police Team and for letting us know your views. Thanks also to B31 Voices for live-reporting from the meeting. Some useful ideas came out of the meeting about...
Crashing out of the EU without a deal would inflict serious damage on manufacturing industry here in the Midlands and beyond. Whatever happens to the Prime Minister’s deal, the overriding priority now must be to rule out a no deal Brexit to avoid that damage. My speech in today’s Commons Brexit debate:
Did Seaborne Freight issue an inaccurate briefing to investors and what investigations have ministers carried out before awarding a £13.8m contract? My question in the House of Commons and the non-reply I received from the Transport Secretary:
The introduction of Universal Credit is causing real hardship, increased debt and rocketing numbers turning to food banks in Birmingham. What are Ministers doing to sort it out? My question in the House of Commons:
Hopefully you will have seen my previous Brexit updates in previous newsletters and on my website. As ever, things have drastically changed since the last update in November. You will now likely know that the long-awaited Parliamentary vote on the Prime Minister’s deal – that was supposed to take place last week – has been pulled and delayed. The Prime Minister has now said that vote will take...
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Special thanks to Chloe from Turves Green Girls’ School for designing the winning front cover for the Christmas card. Well done to Chloe as well as to runners up Nula and Maria!
In this, my last Parliamentary newsletter of 2018, I just wanted to take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you all for taking the time to read my newsletter as well as for all the emails and letters you have sent me. I always appreciate you getting in touch to share your views and to let me know what issues are important to you. I also want to say...
As everyone reading this will know, Brexit has dominated the political agenda in recent weeks and consequently the range of other issues covered in this this month’s newsletter is more limited than usual. Brexit Update The Prime Minister has now set out the terms of her proposed Brexit deal (all 585 pages of it!) and Parliament is about to start nearly two weeks of intensive debate ahead of votes...
The Prime Minister has now set out the terms of her proposed Brexit deal (all 585 pages of it!) and Parliament is about to start nearly two weeks of intensive debate ahead of votes on 11th December. I recently set out my thoughts on where things stand and on the choices facing the UK in an article published by the Birmingham Post and Mail here. Based on what I know now and in line with the...
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.
