Leave campaigners have been trying to tell us for months that if we leave the EU, everything will carry on as normal and there will be nothing but sunshine. When visiting the UK last week, US President Barack Obama told us it isn’t as simple as that. No surprise then that the same Leave campaigners went into overdrive about the US bullying us and that this was an unreasonable intervention …
#Toryporkies in Northfield 2016 – have a look at this scare story being peddled in Conservative leaflet going out in Northfield at the moment and then read on for the truth. Anyone in the Northfield area remember Conservative campaign here during the General Election last year? Remember the candidate who spent a fortune claiming to have made Kings Norton her home and how much she loved the …
South Birmingham has the lowest bowel cancer screening uptake in the West Midlands with just a 45.98% uptake rate. In fact, I haven’t taken part in bowel cancer screening yet, something which this campaign has prompted me to do.
Some 50,000 teachers quit the profession last year – a record high. This left half of all schools starting this academic year with unfilled positions. Class sizes are rising with over half a million primary school pupils in classes of over 40 and 50. And with no requirement for opening academies where need is greatest, it will be harder to find sufficient good places everywhere. The schools …
Welcome to my latest Parliamentary newsletter. This covers some of the most recent developments and initiatives I have been campaigning on, including the government’s new local government rules, the No More #BrumCuts campaign and issues within my role as Shadow Transport Minister. Please also have a look at the end of this newsletter where I’ve highlighted people campaigning …
The government must learn the lessons of the collapse of MG Rover. Car-making at Longbridge and steel at Port Talbot and elsewhere are not simply about the economies of those areas. They are about their heritage; about community identity and the prospects for the next generation. A focus on building community resilience was a vital part of the response to the collapse of MG Rover in Birmingham …
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.