Lozells Faith & Food Festival

Lozells Faith & Food Festival

On Saturday, like hundreds of other residents from across Lozells and surrounding areas, I attended the Lozells Faith & Food Festival in Georges Park. To be honest, I wasn't expecting many people at the festival due to the poor weather leading up to Saturday. I was amazed by the turn-out. The festival was incredibly well attended by the young and old, of all faith and ethnic origins. It was a lovely atmosphere with many organisations, resident groups as well as community ...

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May 05, 2012 - waseemzaffar

Birmingham City University unveils £125m city centre campus plan (Source: Birmingham Post)

Birmingham City University has unveiled ambitious plans to build a £125 million base in the heart of the city. The university is bidding to build a new city centre campus at Eastside, near Millennium Point. It will replace the current City North site in Perry Barr as the institution’s main campus – but university bosses have launched a consultation to minimise the impact on the surrounding community. Work is already underway at Eastside to create a new home for the Birmingham Institute of ...

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May 05, 2012 - waseemzaffar

An Agenda For Change In Tough Times

After Labour’s success in the local elections last week, David Cameron and Nick Clegg attempted a re-launch this week – but no re-launch is going to persuade Britain’s families that this Government is on their side. We’re not even halfway through the Parliament, but the Queen’s speech this week already shows the Tory-led Government scrabbling round for ideas. This is an out of touch Government, which is unfair and incompetent. David Cameron has no plan for the future, no vision for ...

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May 05, 2012 - waseemzaffar

Tories & Lib Dems back out of touch Budget

Over the last month, George Osborne's Budget – a Budget which makes millions pay more so that millionaires can pay less – has unravelled. But this week, the Tories and their Liberal Democrat partners blocked Labour's attempts to stop the Budget's worst measures. They voted for: Cutting the 50p top rate of tax, giving a £40,000 tax cut to 14,000 millionaires; A "Granny Tax" which will leave 4.4 million pensioners worse off; A "Pasty Tax" which increases the cost of hot pies, pasties ...

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April 04, 2012 - waseemzaffar

David Cameron – Out of touch and incompetent

Cameron’s Betrayal on NHS Before the General Election David Cameron said he could be trusted with our NHS. He said he would protect the frontline at all costs, he promised no more top-down reorganisations of the health service and he promised not to close local NHS services. But we now know all of this was not true. As soon as David Cameron got into Government he launched the biggest top-down reorganisation in the history of the NHS. He did not keep his ...

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April 04, 2012 - waseemzaffar

Labour With You In Tough Times

Labour action to tackle the crisis of living standards These are tough times, but the out of touch Tories are making them even tougher with policies that are hurting but not working. Labour is determined to stand up for you and your family, by showing that even when there is less money around we can make a difference. This week, Ed Miliband launched our action plan for family budgets, with 5 ways to ease the squeeze on living standards that could happen ...

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April 04, 2012 - waseemzaffar

Case Study – Why didn’t the riots happen everywhere? Lozells, Birmingham

I was interviewed very thoroughly by members of the 'Riots Communities and Victims Panel' which was commissioned by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition and led by Darra Singh OBE. Their remit was to establish the cause of the riots and identify how future riots can be prevented. Further details about the panel can be found at their website. The Panel was published a final report which can be downloaded. I was very pleased to see Lozells get ...

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April 04, 2012 - waseemzaffar

61 New Trees Planted in Lozells & East Handsworth Ward

When driving through the Moseley or Handsworth Wood areas of our city, I adore the beauty created by trees. At times, I sit back and dream that my local area can have similar wide roads with hundreds of trees. With the recent planting of 61 new trees across the Lozells & East Handsworth Ward, my dream may not be too long before it becomes reality. Since taking office last May, I have been disappointed by the number of residents asking me to ...

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March 03, 2012 - waseemzaffar

Handsworth Leisure Centre is a precious asset

During the past few weeks, there have been numerous questions raised with the elected members for Lozells & East Handsworth Ward relating to the management and future of Handsworth Leisure Centre. I can assure the residents of the ward and other centre users, that the Councillors (myself, Cllr Quinnen and Cllr Brown) and the Member of Parliament, Khalid Mahmood, along with our constituency officers are determined to improve the facilities at Handsworth Leisure Centre. Furthermore, we are currently in discussions to ...

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March 03, 2012 - waseemzaffar

£231,000 drug and cash haul following Lozells raid

Police in Lozells have arrested a man and seized thousands of pounds worth of cash and drugs in a dawn raid on Thursday. Officers, acting on tip-offs from the public, entered the house on Frances Road, shortly before 5.30am. A 24-year-old man who was at the address at the time was arrested on suspicion of possession with the intent to supply class A drugs. He remains in police custody. Following a search of the property, officers recovered approximately 1.5kg of suspected heroin ...

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March 03, 2012 - waseemzaffar