My letter to Birmingham City Council Leader, Sir Albert Bore and Cabinet Member for Jobs & Skills, Councillor Tahir Ali regarding the Birmingham Jobs Fund:
18 February 2013
Dear Albert and Tahir,
I wonder if you or relevant officers could answer some queries I have about the Birmingham Jobs Fund?
Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, was in Birmingham today.
I am delighted he was able to pay a visit to local West Heath manufacturer, Graves Aircraft Components, during the day.
Last week the government voted for an unfair attack on the tax credits and working benefits which millions of people rely on to get by. Many working families are finding things really tough at the moment. They do the right thing, get up early, work a long day, but still they struggle to make ends meet. Many of them use tax credits and benefits to top up their income as without them work wouldn’t …
It’s been six months coming but this morning the Prime Minister finally made his ‘Big Speech’ on Europe.
I am clear that the EU needs to change and work better for people in here in Britain. But the real tragedy of David Cameron’s speech today is that internal tensions in the Conservative Party won’t let him address the need for change in the EU in a sensible and pragmatic way.
Yesterday I spoke in a Commons debate on promoting manufacturing in the West Midlands.
You can read my speech below – and the debate in full is available online here.
Long term unemployment remains stubbornly high in Birmingham and the government’s Work Programme is not lifting a finger to help.
The Labour Market Statistics for November 2012 were published yesterday.
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.