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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Yes – West Midlands Police have serious questions to answer about their behaviour. But it is not the whole story. You wouldn’t know it from most of the commentary today, but this @TimesofIsrael piece provides important context around the Maccabi issue
Chair @SarahChampionMP has written with concern to Foreign Secretary @YvetteCooperMP over the Israeli Government’s treatment of @UNRWA and other INGOs, which run a range of services for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Read more: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/98/international-development-committee/news/211214/international-development-committee-chair-urges-foreign-secretary-to-act-over-unrwa-restrictions/
Trump’s coup in Venezuela didn’t just break the rules – it showed there aren’t any. We’ll all regret that | Nesrine Malik
Our top 50 achievements since being elected in 1997: 1. Lowest inflation since the 60s 2. Lowest mortgage rates for 40 years 3. Introduced the National Minimum Wage 4. Record police numbers in England and Wales 5. Cut overall crime by 30 per cent 6. Record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools 7. Best-ever primary school results 8. Funding for every pupil in England to double (since 1997) by …
Today, Richard Burden MP, Chair of the Britain-Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group, will chair a Memorial Evening in London to commemorate the life of Yasser Arafat. The evening will be attended by H. E. Afif Safieh, Palestinian General Delegate to the UK. Speakers will also include Rajab Chamlakh, Head of the Association of Palestinian Community in the UK; Lord David Steel, Former leader of …
Richard Burden MP, Chair of the Britain-Palestine All-Party Group in Parliament today responded to news of the death of Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat. Richard, a regular visitor to the region and an active campaigner for greater recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people, had met with Mr Arafat on several occasions during recent years. He said: Yasser Arafat was “Mr Palestine” for …
Richard Burden MP, Chair of the All Party Motor Group and whose constituency includes MG Rover’s Longbridge plant, said today: “I am sure that many of tomorrow’s headlines will be dominated by reports that the Phoenix directors have put another £4m into their pension pot and by confirmation that they have now received payments from the multi-million pound loan note. Like many other people, I am …
Richard welcomed the announcement of MG Rover’s development agreement with Chinese car company, Shanghai Automotive. Richard said: “This is excellent news. MG Rover has already released a range of new and revised models and more are on the way. It has also been clear for some time that securing a strategic partner is vitally important for the future. Such a partnership will enable MG Rover to …
The Phoenix Directors have given me some more information about the reports that have appeared in the press recently. They have explained their rationale for some of the ways in which the companies in the group – including MGR Capital – have been structured. In response to a specific question from me, they have also reconfirmed that all the proceeds from the sale of surplus land at …
I attended the Education Schools Strategy day at King Edward VI School at Five Ways in February, and addressed the Leadership Teams of nine local secondary schools on the topic of ‘Building a vision for learning and employment in South West Birmingham’. The schools that took part in the meeting form the Edge Collegiate. They are
I have been telling different people in the constituency about the new Child Trust Fund which has been introduced by the Government and which will benefit more than 2,500 families in Birmingham Northfield. All children living in the UK born on or after 1st September 2002 and who receive Child Benefit, will receive a £250 voucher to open a Child Trust Fund account, with up to £500 given to those …
I recently took action after a recent survey showed more than half of guide dog owners have been turned away by a service provider such as a pub, restaurant, hotel, shop or bank in the last five years.1 I pledged my support to Theresa May MP’s parliamentary motion, encouraging local businesses to not only welcome guide dog owners through the door, but to make their services fully accessible for …
I recently attended an Arctic experience, recreated in Westminster by the WWF to raise a sense of urgency about the devastating impact climate change is having on people and places around the world. WWF invited an Arctic “Climate Witness” called Mille Porsild to VictoriaTowerGardens – close to the House of Lords, and set the Arctic scene with a life-size igloo hand sculpted from ice and …
At a meeting of the Council’s Northfield District Committee on 12th February, I was told that the bus company, Pete’s Travel, had taken the Fordrough, Houldey Road and Slingfield Road off the 634/635 bus route. Residents had been given virtually no notice of this change. I spoke to both Centro and Pete’s Travel and they accepted that the route for this bus should not have been changed without …
I have campaigned for better support for local workers – such as those at Kalamazoo – who lost their pension rights when their firms go bust. Last month, the government announced the details of the Financial Assistance Scheme which included the levels of assistance that eligible members will receive when the FAS starts making payments. The FAS will provide: – assistance to all those …
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.
