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.
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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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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…
Commenting on the current crisis in the Middle East, Richard Burden MP, Chair of the Britain-Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group, today said:
“Israel’s actions in Lebanon mark a dangerous escalation of the crisis unfolding in the Middle East and they are contrary to international law.
In Parliament today, MPs raised the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Middle East and the disproportionate attacks made by Israel on the Palestinians following the kidnapping of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit on Sunday night. MPs, including former Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary, Sir Gerald Kaufman MP, called for an urgent statement and a full Parliamentary debate on the British response to …
Richard Burden MP joined Government Minister Mike O’Brien MP and other guests on Tuesday 29th May when it was announced that the production of MGs will restart at the Longbridge factory in his constituency. The MG marque is now owned by Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) and tomorrow’s ceremony will be attended by senior officials from NAC and by Liang Bao Hua, the Governor of Jiangsu province …
EMOTIONS THE COLLAPSE OF MG ROVER HAS GENERATED “The ending of production at Longbridge, felt like a bereavement, and it takes time to recover from that. And people have been through the roller coaster of emotions that go with bereavement. Shock, grief, anger, denial and then a determination to face a changed future. The closure, after 99 years of car manufacturing, of a factory which has been …
Richard Burden MP, whose constituency includes the Longbridge car plant, has welcomed the publication of the National Audit Office report into the closure of MG Rover. Mr Burden said today: “The NAO has produced a balanced and comprehensive report which rightly underlines the significance of MG Rover to the economy of the West Midlands and the pace of events which led up to the closure of …
Commenting on the result of the elections in Israel, Richard Burden MP, Chair of the Britain-Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group, today said: “When the results of the Palestinian election were announced the international community was very clear about the importance of the new Palestinian government standing by international law and international agreements. “It is important that an equally …
In Parliament today Richard Burden, Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield which includes the site of the former MG Rover factory, praised the Trade and Industry Secretary on the achievements so far of the MG Rover Task Force but reiterated his concern that there still remains a considerable number of people without jobs and an urgent need for regeneration in the South West Birmingham area. In …
Richard Burden MP has today welcomed the decision of the Commons Trade and Industry Committee to launch an Inquiry into the role of the Government and MG Rover, and has offered to give evidence if the Committee would find that helpful. The Longbridge car plant is in Mr Burden’s Birmingham Northfield constituency. In June last year, Mr Burden secured a special debate in Parliament in which …
Q8. [23746] Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab): My right hon. Friend will be aware that more than six months have passed since the collapse of MG Rover in my constituency. May I ask him to do two things? First, will he recognise the contribution that the taskforce set up by the Government has made towards helping the region and beyond to tackle the effects of that closure; and …
The Chair of Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group, Richard Burden MP, today issued the following statement:
“The comments made by the President of Iran on Wednesday were deplorable. They were shocking in the same way that it would have been disgraceful if anyone said that Palestine, or any other country and people should be wiped off the map.
Richard Burden MP will join the cousin of Rachel Corrie at a meeting in Westminster tonight to discuss the Corrie family’s ongoing battle for justice. Rachel Corrie was crushed by a bulldozer whilst peacefully protesting at the demolition of a Palestinian home in Rafah in the Gaza strip in March 2003. Her cousin Elizabeth will speak about the legal action which the family are pursuing against the …
2 days after Israeli troops left, Richard Burden MP, Chair of the Britain-Palestine All Party Group in Parliament, became the first British MP to visit Gaza. Mr Burden, who is on a short visit to Israel and the Occupied Territories, is being accompanied by Julia Wickham, the Director of Labour Middle East Council. Tomorrow he will meet with a number of Israeli spokespeople.
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.
