May 4, 2012 •
I am proud that our great city is now firmly back under Labour control. A Labour council will make a massive difference to people’s lives here. But an elected Mayor would have made more. That is a conviction for which I gave up my seat in Parliament and to which I have dedicated the two...
May 2, 2012 •
The message to the voters of London and Birmingham tomorrow is clear: it’s time to send the Tories (and their Lib Dem lackeys) packing. Here is my post to that effect on Labour Uncut. And here’s a picture of my campaign team sending them packing from Weoley ward, where old comrade and outstanding Labour candidate,...
Apr 14, 2012 •
On Saturday 14 April I was invited to speak to an audience of Handsworth Wood residents in the splendid setting of Hawthorn House. Conveniently situated a short dash from the Baggies’ home ground I arrived buoyed up by a 1-0 victory against QPR and expecting a small gathering. By the time we got underway, however, it...
Apr 12, 2012 •
In today’s Birmingham Post I outline that while I stood down before the last general election, deliberately to avoid a costly by-election, I believe it’s now too late for Labour to stop sitting MPs from standing for Mayor. The intervention was reported in the Guardian here and the Independent here.
Apr 2, 2012 •
I met Sir Robin Wales, the elected Mayor of Newham, east London, this evening. Just like Sir Peter Soulsby, the Mayor of Leicester, the first thing Robin told me was that being the Mayor was radically different from being leader of the council. “Nobody knows who the leader of the council is. But as the...
Mar 21, 2012 •
Today the chancellor, George Osborne, unveiled his third budget. I think it is a budget of missed opportunities, especially for Birmingham. Birmingham needed a budget for growth and jobs; unfortunately we got neither. The chancellor’s statement utterly fails to get to grips with the chronic problems of long-term and youth unemployment that scar our city....
Mar 6, 2012 •
Today I unveiled my 10-point plan for building a better Birmingham – and I want your views on it. Having spent two years talking to Brummies from all over the city and from all walks of life, I’ve come up with 10 things I would do if elected Mayor that I believe would make a...
Feb 24, 2012 •
Tonight I chaired an inspiring event exploring ways to tackle youth unemployment. Organised by Pragmatic Radicalism, Birmingham Fabians and the Young Fabians, Top of the Policies brought together a diverse group of people with a variety of views on how to tackle the UK’s chronic youth unemployment problem. We began with a welcome and introduction...
Feb 17, 2012 •
I met Sir Peter Soulsby, the elected Mayor for Leicester, today to find out how Leicester had benefitted from having a directly elected Mayor. Peter began our conversation by telling me that being an elected Mayor was a completely different role from being the leader of the council. He said, “When you ask people to...
Feb 7, 2012 • Comments Closed
I visited Birmingham’s Wholesale Markets this morning to talk to some of the traders about their future. My host, Mark Tate of George Perry, showed me around and introduced me to some of his colleagues. The traders took the time to explain how their businesses worked, including a demonstration of the fast paced buying system...
Jan 14, 2012 • Comments Closed
This afternoon Ed Balls spoke at a lunch that MPs Tom Watson, Khalid Mahmood and I hosted at the new Marco Pierre White Steakhouse in the Cube. In his speech to our guests, the Shadow Chancellor described Birmingham as a great city, which, like London, would benefit from having an elected Mayor. The busy lunch...
Jan 4, 2012 • Comments Closed
Today I put in a response to the Government about the powers an elected Mayor should have. I argued that many of the powers and budgets that currently lie with the national Government and other agencies in London must be devolved here to Birmingham. I believe that solutions that work for Birmingham should be invented here in...
