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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.
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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…
After the collapse of MG Rover in 2005 an independent inquiry was established to investigate what led to the collapse. Three years on, there is growing concern about the time it is taking for this inquiry to report its findings and the increasing cost. Richard Burden, as the local MP, has been vocal on the importance of the MG Rover Inquiry and the need for it to report as soon as possible. In …
Richard Burden MP has welcomed today’s joint announcement on agency workers by the Government, the CBI and the TUC. Earlier today the Business Secretary, John Hutton, explained that an agreement had been reached between employers and unions on new rules on equal treatment for agency workers after 12 weeks employment. Welcoming the announcement, Richard said: ‘I was one of the many Labour MPs who …
I am sure many of you will have been following the developments in Zimbabwe over the last few weeks, as I have. Zimbabwe, once seen as a future beacon for Africa, today faces economic ruin with inflation running at above 100,000% and unemployment at about 80%. For millions of people in Zimbabwe every day life is a battle against poverty, disease and disempowerment. Life expectancy is down to only …
There was a debate in Parliament recently about the future of the Post Office network. You may also have seen speculation in the press and elsewhere about the prospect of further post office closures locally. So I thought it would be useful to update constituents on my understanding of the current situation and let you know what I am doing as your local MP. What is going on? Post Office Ltd has …
Several constituents have recently expressed their concern to me about the impact that the abolition of the 10p tax rate has on some people on low incomes. Like many other Labour MPs, I share their concern about this. Neither I, nor most MPs I have spoken to, intended people on low incomes to lose out as a result of the changes to the tax and benefits systems passed by Parliament last year with …
A debate on Global Security in the Middle East took place in Westminster Hall yesterday. The debate followed the publication of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee report on the issue in August last year and the Government’s response in October.
MPs have expressed their revulsion at the mounting death toll in Gaza and called on the international community to take immediate action.
An Early Day Motion (EDM) on Gaza was tabled by Richard Burden MP on 3 March 2008 and has been signed by 68 Members of Parliament.
I opposed the invasion of Iraq but we are right to be in Afghanistan. Sadly, the country remains blighted by conflict in Helmand, where most of the UK’s 7,500 troops are deployed. Many families here in the UK have lost loved ones over there. With no end yet in sight it is understandable that some commentators are now suggesting that we should get out. Understandable maybe, but – in my view – …
Richard Burden, MP for Birmingham Northfield, has welcomed Birmingham’s vision for neighbourhood working but said that there are issues that must be addressed if neighbourhood working in Birmingham is to be the success in practice that it deserves to be. The vision for neighbourhood working is set out in ‘Vibrant Urban Villages’, a Green Paper published by Birmingham City Council and the …
Local communities in Birmingham should be given more power to decide the priorities for their areas. I am calling on Birmingham City Council and other agencies to do more to help them do so. I recently published a paper responding to a City consultation on the future of devolution and localisation in the city – through the development of what Birmingham City Council calls ‘Vibrant Urban Villages’ …
Richard Burden joined local campaigners from Oxfam, RSPB, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Practical Action on Saturday to support their campaign to combat climate change. In Birmingham City Centre Richard accepted a large Valentines Day card to deliver to the Prime Minister. The card had been signed by people concerned about climate change and called on the Government to make the Climate …
Local authorities have a duty to provide accommodation for families with children and other vulnerable people who are either homeless or threatened with homelessness. Until now, Birmingham City Council has operated a banding system which gives priority to re-housing families who are staying in temporary accommodation provided by the City Council, over families who are also homeless but staying …
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.
