I have added my name to a letter drafted by Labour’s Shadow Sports Minister, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, calling on the Football Association to fill empty seats at England matches with free tickets for schoolchildren. Wembley Stadium had 28,000 empty seats during the last England match and there are many schools in Northfield that would welcome the chance to offer young people the opportunity to be at...
Welcome to my latest Parliamentary newsletter. This covers local issues and developments as well as my actions in Parliament. As ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me on these or any other issues. Best wishes, Richard In Birmingham Northfield Boundary Review The Boundary Commission published their proposals for changes to Parliamentary constituency boundaries in England...
This morning I asked the government about the problem of superfast not-spots in urban areas. This has been an ongoing issue that affects a number of constituents in Birmingham Northfield and many of you have been in touch with me about it. I have been raising this in Parliament over the last year and have also met with internet service providers (ISPs), highlighting concerns about the lack of...
Originally published in Bromsgrove Standard – 5 August 2016 This is a diary piece of good news and of bad news. During the General Election campaign last year, Conservatives in South Birmingham were rushing around claiming that Northfield was going to lose its swimming pool. Their claims were, of course, rubbish, as they well knew. Northfield pool was coming to the end of its life. The...
Today I put questions to the government about the BBC alongside fellow Birmingham MP, Steve McCabe. This is ahead of the government publishing a ‘white paper’ tomorrow on the BBC’s future. I urged the Secretary of State to address the issue of the BBC not providing fair shares of investment and operation to the midlands. I also suggested that moving the Channel 4 headquarters to Birmingham would...
A resident living close to North Worcestershire Golf Course wrote to me last week to tell me that he had seen a copy of a recent letter from the Management Committee of the Club saying that they intend to close the Club with effect from March 2016. The resident who wrote to me asked if this meant that the land at the Golf Course will definitely now be redeveloped for housing. This does not...
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.