Thank you
Thank you to the people of Northfield constituency for re-electing me as your local MP at the general election on 6th May. And welcome to people who joined the Northfield constituency as a result of boundary changes at the election.
Stop the VAT increase
The Conservative / Lib Dem government is increasing VAT to 20%. This will hit pensioners and people of low and modest incomes the hardest. Your local Labour team are fighting to stop the coalition government's VAT hike. Will you join us by signing our online petition?
Latest news
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Government's insult to the West Midlands (20 July 2010)
Government’s insult to the West Midlands - In the last Parliament, watchdog committees were established to keep an eye on government performance in different English regions and to give regions a stronger voice at Westminster. I was the Chair of the West Midlands Committee. The new government has scrapped the committees and last week issued a brief ministerial statement in response to recent inquires by the East Midlands, South East and West Midlands Select Committees, rather than respond to the Committees’ recommendations in detail in line with usual practice. The West Midlands Committee published two reports on 8th April 2010:...
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Budget: neither unavoidable nor fair (23 June 2010)
The Coalition Budget: neither unavoidable not fair - There is no question that difficult choices had to be made in yesterday’s Budget. But George Osborne made the wrong ones. Conservative / Lib Dem claims that the rich will bear most of the pain are shallow. It is people on low and modest incomes who will suffer most. Those on the lowest incomes will gain least from the increase in the income tax personal allowance and will suffer most from the cuts in public spending. The VAT increase will also have most impact on those with the least money. David Miliband...
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Labour Party Leadership (9 June 2010)
Labour Leadership Election - At lunchtime today the nominations for the Labour leadership election were announced. Five candidates have been nominated: Diane Abbott, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, David Miliband and Ed Miliband. Earlier today I backed David Miliband’s nomination to be the next Leader of the Labour Party. I left it until this week to submit my nomination because I wanted to listen to what all potential candidates had to say before making my own nomination. A number of party members have also contacted me and I wanted to think too about what they were saying about the role of...
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The 2010 General Election (9 June 2010)
Thank you - As this is my first online update since the election I want to start by saying thank you to the people of Northfield constituency for re-electing me as your local MP. The second thing I want to say is welcome to people who live in Kings Norton ward who have become my constituents as a result of boundary changes at this election. In Lynne Jones, Kings Norton has had a talented and hard working MP for many years. I want to continue Lynne’s good work and extend it to meet the new challenges of the coming years....
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It is five years since MG Rover closed. And five years on, former Rover workers are still left waiting for the trust fund they were promised.