Earlier this year it was revealed that the Northfield constituency has the worst record in the country for low pay. Over 50% of people in this area are paid less than the living wage of £7.85 an hour – reaching up to 63.1% for women. As I said at the time, it is an absolute scandal that over half of local working people are not being paid enough to provide properly for themselves and their …
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We all know how fed up people can be with the way the world of politics can seem. Often it can feel like political parties are speaking a different language and bombarding you with buzz words. In 2010, at the last general election 40% of those eligible chose not to vote at all in our constituency. That’s why I need your help. I need your help to help me reach all those people who are not engaged …
A few weeks ago we saw the publication of an ambitious new report looking into how digital technology can help shape the future UK politics. The Commission was ground-breaking in a number of ways and its’ conclusions are broad and ambitious. I would encourage anyone interested to read it via their impressive interactive website. I also wanted to offer a few thoughts on the five key …
On Tuesday (3 February 2015) I successfully held an Ask Me Anything using my Twitter and Facebook pages. As promised I did my best to answer as many questions from Northfield constituents as possible within the intended hour-long chat. In the end I stayed on for an extra 20 minutes and I’m still getting back to a few I missed! You can see my responses on Twitter by checking out this handy Storify …
It’s two weeks into the New Year and we’re at the point where many of us forget about our resolution of shedding a couple of pounds. With that in mind, this week is National Obesity Awareness Week. Almost a quarter of children in Birmingham (23.4%) are classified as obese, compared with 10.1% nationally. Meanwhile the number of recorded cases of diabetes is double the UK average, affecting almost …
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.