I am a member of the House of Commons International Development Committee (IDC.) Today, we launched a report on Global Food Security – a huge issue both within the UK and overseas. High and volatile food prices are rarely out of the news at the moment, especially after the two recent shocks in global food prices in 2008 and 2011. Only last week I helped to lead a food drive for Northfield Life …
Welcome to my first column. I’m excited to start sharing my parliamentary perspective with Motortrades Insight, and the online automotive community. As a West Midlands MP with Longbridge in my constituency, an interest in automotive kind of goes with the territory, but it’s more than that. The automotive industry has been in my blood for as long as I can remember. And when I say “automotive”, I …
Amazing generosity from local people for #LifeLineFoodBank. Thanks to Northfield @sainsburys for hosting collection twitter.com/RichardBurdenM…
— Richard Burden MP (@RichardBurdenMP) May 30, 2013
Today I am leading a ‘food drive’ for the Northfield Lifeline Food Bank after it was burgled last month. We will be raising awareness and stocking food as the news hits home that half a million people had to rely on food banks in the past year.
The Work Capability Assessment is clearly not working. A third of the decisions that the health service provider makes are being overturned in appeals. Charities and the medical profession have issued strong criticisms of the assessment process, calling the government’s system inhumane and often inaccurate. I know that assessments are causing real hardship and humiliation for many people in …
Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK. NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (known previously as Primary Care Trusts) decide who is eligible to receive funding for fertility treatment. In South Birmingham, the present CCG guidelines dictate that couples are not eligible for funding for fertility treatment where one partner has a child from a previous relationship. The Department …
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.