Remploy workers living with the threat of redundancy in Birmingham this Christmas could have a more hopeful New Year if plans to turn their factory into an employee-owned business work out successfully.

Local Liberal Democrat MP, John Hemming, is spearheading moves to convert the Garrets Green factory into an employee owned business.

"The mutual model like John Lewis a good one for employment," says Hemming. "There's no reason why the business shouldn't make a profit just because it's got a broader shareholding."

Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming has condemned the arrest of a police officer in connection with the Andrew Mitchell 'plebgate' row.

The former chief whip resigned from his post after he was accused of calling police officers 'plebs' outside the gates of Downing Street.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, 86 politicians from all three major parties urge David Cameron not to bring in new press laws if Lord Justice Leveson recommends state regulation on Thursday.

One Liberal Democrat MP, John Hemming, has signed the letter and several Labour MPs, including Kate Hoey, the former sports minister, and Frank Field, a former welfare minister.

Residents and politicians in Birmingham have reacted with shock to the news that Premier Foods is to close a bakery with the loss of 500 jobs.

Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley John Hemming, whose constituency covers the bakery site, said he had arranged a meeting with Premier Foods later this week.

The deputy prime minister said the government would reach out to victims of abuse in care homes and their "suffering would be atoned for".

Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming asked Mr Clegg - standing in for David Cameron at PMQs - about opening the files for people brought up in care to help them.

In a disturbing extension of social workers' powers, a child born in Spain has been deported to the UK

John Hemming, the only MP who campaigns on such issues, describes this case as “truly appalling. It appears to give the social workers licence to go anywhere abroad to seize children who have never lived here, in clear breach of the law as it was still being upheld by the High Court as recently as last May.”

John Hemming said the Government was “dangerously complacent” about the level of cover-ups at ­children’s homes and in the ­wider family justice system.

Mr Hemming, who chairs the ­Justice for Families campaign, has urged the Coalition to give ­whistle- blowers more protection.

He wants to make it a criminal ­offence to intimidate people who want to come forward, a demand he says is more urgent after scandals at care homes in Rotherham, Rochdale, Haut de la Garenne in Jersey and Wrexham, North Wales

Energy ministrer Greg Barker and key figures in the energy industry have shown their support for the Family Justice Bill and for passive flue gas heat recovery technology as a means of achieving lower fuel bills without public subsidy.

The MP behind the bill John Hemming is seeking the mandatory inclusion of PFGHRDs in new heating systems for greater energy efficiency and savings on energy bills.

Social services are targeting white children from Eastern European families because they are more likely to be adopted by white British families. That’s the claim by Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, John Hemming, a serious allegation denied by social workers.

MP for Yardley, John Hemming, says extended family members should have more rights to look after children

John Hemming (Lib Dem Yardley) has proposed laws requiring judges to consider whether a child could be placed with its extended family rather than into local authority care.

The welfare and safety of the child would still be the first priority of the court.

Watch live coverage of Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming leading the second reading debate of his Family Justice (Transparency, Accountability and Cost of Living) Bill.

Lib Dem MP John Hemming said abuse victims were often ignored and punished and this could not be "tolerated".

He wants a new law to make it an offence to threaten whistleblowers to stop them reporting wrongdoing.

A Hous of Commons review suggested MPs should receive a rise, taking them from the current £65,738 to £68,952 – three times the national average salary.

But the proposal was rejected by Birmingham MPs, who said voters would not accept politicians taking pay rises in such a grave financial climate.

John Hemming (Lib Dem, Yardley) said: "The country is in a deep economic crisis and these are not the circumstances in which it would be sensible to increase MPs’ pay."

THE British politician who 'outed' footballer Ryan Giggs for getting a super-injunction has emerged as a prominent figure in the fledgling No campaign in the Children's Rights Referendum.

He has warned that if the children's referendum is passed, the HSE will have similar powers to take children from their parents and put them up for adoption.

The West Midlands has received a major jobs boost – with the creation of 200 new apprenticeships in Birmingham by communications giant Virgin Media.

The Eagle Court complex in Sheldon will incorporate the company’s new state-of-the-art apprentice training centre.

Austerity could continue well into the next decade, Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming has warned.

Britain should stop relying on economic growth to create jobs and instead look for ways of sharing out the limited amount of work available, he said.

A Birmingham MP has insisted his tangled love life has no bearing on his Parliamentary work.

[He] questioned how many of his constituents actually cared about his unconventional set-up. “Some people, a very small number,” he said. “Most care how good a job I do as a Member of Parliament and how I focus on that.”

Assistant Chief Minister Philip Bailhache has promised to look into any evidence of injustice in Jersey following a face-to-face meeting with MP John Hemming, who recently criticised the Island authorities in the House of Commons.

LIBERAL Democrat MP John Hemming has insisted he won’t be following his party leader and apologising for voting to increase student tuition fees.

[He] said: “I see no reason to apologise.”

Lorely Burt will [call] for new laws allowing doctors to help patients end their lives.

But she will be opposed by [.. ..] MP John Hemming, who has backed activists demanding there should be no change in the law.

Liberal Democrat John Hemming told the House of Commons that criminal offences were "being swept under the carpet".

He urged the UK Government, which has a responsibility to ensure good governance in the island, to intervene.

Many Slovak children (estimated at around 30 now) have been torn from their parents in recent years in the UK, with the child snatching of two young boys two years ago providing the impetus for the Slovak public to organise themselves on a social network and plan a demonstration in front of the British Embassy at 4pm today.

Hemming [.. ..] criticises the way the system works and says he was astonished to see just how many foreigners are on the other end of the child snatching.

The Slovakian government has such 'serious concern' over the workings of Britain’s 'family protection' system that it plans to challenge the legality of the policy in Strasbourg

Ministers have defended dramatic cuts to fire service funding and rejected claims that lives could be put at risk.

... Midland MPs John Hemming (Lib Dem, Yardley) [.. ..] urged the Government to reconsider planned cuts when they spoke in a Commons debate.

A Boston mum who is fighting to see her two young sons is preparing to speak out against the issue of forced adoption at a conference in Skegness next week.

Liberal Democrat John Hemming, who represents Birmingham Yardley, said Slovak government officials were troubled by decisions made by judges hearing family court cases involving Slovak parents.

Mr Hemming raised the issue in a parliamentary motion and said Slovak officials had worries that there were cases where children had been adopted "without sound reasons".

For home-edders, the freedom to depart from a rigid curriculum and examination-based education offers a world of exploration and excitement for children.

John Hemming MP for Birmingham Yardley says: One of the problems with child protection assessments is that parents are asked to prove their 'innocence'. Because the system is not happy with home educators they often find themselves on the wrong side of a child protection investigation.

A television campaign promoting the RSPCA as a 'home for life' has escaped censure from the Advertising Standards Authority – despite one in five animals in the scheme being put down.

Complainants, including liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, contended that this was misleading as no mention was made of the fact that some animals were being put down.

At a cottage deep in the French countryside, a baby girl kicks her feet in the air and smiles at her father, Joe, as she is cuddled by her mother, Marie.

Little Luna is home at last - reunited with her parents at the end of an historic legal battle against British social workers which began when Marie became pregnant and moved to France from her home in Norfolk.

John Hemming, the Lib Dem MP who has advised many parents whose children have been removed by social services, said: ‘The Norfolk social workers don’t seem to recognise any limits on their legal authority.’

John Hemming MP seeks responses by 20 September 2012 A draft of John Hemming MP’s Family Justice Private Members’ Bill has now been published for public consultation [here]. Last month it was announced that Mr Hemming was sixth in the Bill ballot of private members.

Britain should copy countries like Afghanistan and Iraq and mark voters’ fingers with ink to prevent ballot box fraud, a Birmingham MP has claimed.

Social workers want to seize a baby as soon as it is born because they are concerned about the mother’s violent links to the English Defence League.

However, her cause has been taken up by Lib Dem MP John Hemming who, despite his loathing for the EDL, raised it in the Commons. He contrasts her treatment with that of the extremist Islamic cleric Abu Qatada ...

MPs have beaten peers in the 25th annual charity parliamentary tug-of-war match.

It is hoped that the event on Westminster Abbey’s College Garden will raise more than £100,000 for the cancer support charity Macmillan.

Fewer decisions about the care of children will be made on the advice of poorly qualified experts in the family courts under government plans.

Lib Dem MP John Hemming, who campaigns for family law reform, said he "welcomed" the move.

A mother who fled to Spain to stop social workers taking her baby has won the right to keep the child, it emerged today.

Miss Coote's father Dale, 47, said he was furious Suffolk County Council had never apologised for the way his family were treated.

His case has been backed by MP John Hemming, chairman of Justice for Families, who today claimed social workers are removing children from families for ‘spurious reasons.’

The Lib Dem member for Yardley, in Birmingham, also branded experts used in family courts as ‘unreliable’.

Nine men have been arrested in connection with a suspected second child grooming gang in Rochdale.

The arrests came as one MP warned last night that a "dreadfully complacent" attitude on the part of the Government meant Rochdale could just be the tip of the iceberg.

John Hemming, an expert in statistics, said hundreds of vulnerable children who had been in local authority care might have been abducted and trafficked by child grooming gangs.

Liberal Democrat MP for Yardley John Hemming, who campaigned against having an elected mayor, said Birmingham people had declared "resoundingly they want accountable democracy".

The Sikh Community in the UK celebrated the 26th Anniversary of the Khalistan Declaration with wide support from MPs of all parties and British Muslims who recognise that the "Sikhs are a Nation"

John Hemming MP’s message of support backed the Conference’s aims, adding to the voice of a number of other parliamentarians who have voiced concerns in recent weeks over the Bhai Rajoana case.

As part of our coverage of Election 2012, we are asking for opinions on the referendum regarding a directly elected mayor for Birmingham.

The Government has published a review of parliamentary privilege which recommends that MPs’ freedom of speech should not be affected.

The Campaign for Truth and Justice is staging a demonstration every day from 9.30am to 4.30 to, once again, highlight the plight of victims of miscarriges and perversion of justice.[.. ..] the Campaign spells out in general terms [.. ..]: unlawful imprisonments, human rights abuses, fraudulent bankruptcies and child snatching as the tip of an iceberg of white collar crimes

John Hemming MP has ample experience with parents whose children were taken: he says that the evidence is that about half of his over 1,600 cases on file are unreliable.

Extended family members say they are too often overlooked by social service teams when they decide to remove children from their natural parents and place them in foster homes or for adoption.

Lib Dem MP John Hemming, who chairs the Justice for Families campaign, said: "Far too often social workers take what they think is the safer and easier route of placing children with strangers when there is a far more obvious solution staring them in the face: grandparents.
"There needs to be a shift in attitude."

The convicted terrorist released from prison early after becoming an Al Qaeda supergrass has made a mockery of the secret arrangement by flaunting his freedom, it emerged yesterday.

Last night John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP who campaigns against secret justice, said Badat’s case had reinforced the need for more parliamentary scrutiny of these secret hearings.

A convicted Islamic terrorist who was the accomplice of shoe bomber Richard Reid has been freed from prison after becoming Britain's first al-Qaeda supergrass.

The deal [.. ..] has been kept secret for more than two years to protect his safety. It means the convicted terrorist has been on the streets since March 2010 without the public being told.

John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP who campaigns against secret justice, said: "There is no transparency. How do we know what is being done in our name and whether it is right or wrong.
"I worry about secret courts because in my experience the evidence can be unreliable."

Care proceedings have been on the increase in Britain for the past five years, since the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly, known as "Baby P", led to widespread anger over whether social workers were acting quickly enough to protect vulnerable children.

Claims that children taken into care are guaranteed safer, better situations are rejected by some, who point to the shortage of trained foster carers and the failure of local authorities to scrutinise and monitor foster care placements properly. John Hemming, an MP who campaigns for transparency in the care system, pointed to research published in The Lancet last year which found that, for many children, being taken into care is a traumatic process which does harm.

Yardley MP John Hemming, one of the leaders of the "No" to a mayor campaign, has called upon potential candidates to confirm that they will not be demanding higher pay than the current leader of the council Mike Whitby, whose allowance is now £66,000.

A FORMER used car salesman is facing jail after admitting flouting consumer protection laws.

Jafari, 25, of Bierton Road, Yardley, came to the attention of Birmingham Trading Standards officers when constituency MP John Hemming raised concerns about how he was parking cars outside a house in Hob Moor Road.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has apologised for the delay after admitting diverting five crews because the 999 call was not classed as life-threatening.

Yardley MP John Hemming has now taken up the case. He said: "There is a question as to whether the triage system is working properly. "I think the family are right to ask questions and I will make sure we get answers."

Following worrying reports of possible government proposals to collect real-time information on people’s activity online, including from social media sites, we are pleased to hear the Deputy Prime Minister making clear his commitment to civil liberties and protecting privacy

With a debate tonight on the merits of an elected mayor for the city and polling cards arriving this week in Birmingham for the May 3rd referendum, Left Foot Forward’s Amanda Ramsay takes a look at the debate and talks to campaigners on the ground

[.. ..]John Hemming MP (Liberal Democrat, Birmingham Yardley) has launched a dramatic no campaign with comparisons of elected mayors to "dictators", comparing the battle to stop a mayor being created to the battle against Hitler.

A little over a year ago, Lucy Allan led what most people would regard as an eminently respectable life.

Twice a month, she sat on the local fostering panel, which oversaw the removal of children from their parents and placed them with new families.

‘I am close to my son, so I was worried that he knew I was feeling sad. I went to my local GP surgery expecting to be given a course of anti-depressants and then feel better,’ she recalls.

She was seen by a young female locum, who listened to what Lucy had to say, and then told her she wanted to refer her to social services to ‘see if the family needed support’.

To Lucy’s horror, [.. ..] the locum informed social services that Lucy’s son was at significant risk of harm from his mother.

A growing number of animal sanctuaries are closing due to an inability to cope with an increase in abandoned pets and growing bureaucratic pressure from the RSPCA.

John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley, said he would investigate the emerging threat to sanctuaries.

A top psychiatrist hired to assess teenagers was once suspended for forcibly kissing a vulnerable young patient.

The man is still practising but this revelation by the Sunday Express has led to calls for an overhaul of the child protection system.

Cities that elect a mayor have been promised ‘bespoke powers’ devolved from central government, but does the deal stack up?

Protesters including Lib Dem Birmingham MP John Hemming - of the anti-mayor "Vote No to a Power Freak" campaign- complain this is a loaded question.

After being confronted, Dr Hibbert, 59, offered to surrender his licence to practise as a doctor at his busi- ness Assessment in Care, rather than face a General Medical Council inquiry.

But his request has been rejected by the GMC which says there are still ‘unresolved concerns regarding his fitness to practise’.

A consultant psychiatrist is being investigated over claims that he distorted his assessment of patients to suit the demands of local authorities, it was reported last night.

Mr Hemming told Parliament: "He [Dr Hibbert] is someone about whom a number of people have complained. I am told that at least one person has refused to work for him because of what she saw as his unethical provision of reports to suit the demands of local authorities."

Lives are being put at risk by a £30 million cut in funding for West Midlands Fire Service which means five fire-fighting posts are being lost every month, MPs have warned.

MPs including [.. ..] John Hemming (Lib Dem Birmingham Yardley) [.. ..] highlighted cuts to West Midlands Fire Service as they spoke in the Commons

A prominent MP has criticised lawyers who threatened to seek an injunction preventing the Daily Telegraph from publishing Government documents which were protected under parliamentary privilege.

Mr Hemming said: �If they tried to injunct reporting of parliament potentially they are in contempt of parliament.

Digby Jones has ruled himself out as a candidate to be Birmingham’s first elected mayor - after insisting there should be a West Midlands-wide role.

Elsewhere, MP John Hemming may stand as a Liberal Democrat - although opposes the elected mayor role - and Tory council leader Mike Whitby has let it be known that he could yet stand, without admitting so publicly.

A lively debate took place at a school in Worcester as students grilled some of the region’s top political brains.

Q: What do Tuesday, 6 March and Thursday, 15 November have in common?

A: They’re both "super" days, whatever your opinion of what actually happens during the course of them!

A mother accused of abusing her baby hopes new medical evidence will bring back her child.

[.. ..]Now it seems Georgia’s injuries might be due by severe vitamin D deficiency which has weakened her bones.

Whole Government departments should be moved out of London and relocated to cities such as Birmingham, MPs are insisting.

[.. ..] MPs including Steve McCabe (Lab Selly Oak), Richard Burden (Lab Northfield), Ian Austin (Lab Dudley North) and John Hemming (Lib Dem Yardley) are urging the Government to revive plans to move thousands of civil service jobs out of the capital.

The BBC faced a licence-fee backlash last night from TV regions over its controversial �500million move to MediaCity in Salford.

Birmingham Yardley MP John Hemming said: "The BBC Trust is playing with fire in ignoring the concerns of 11 million Midland licence-fee payers. People are very unhappy about this. The BBC is a publicly-funded body which should support the economy across the country in a fair way.

"The BBC has a duty to fund regional jobs in a proportionate level to the revenue raised in each region."

A Stechford family’s three-week trip to Pakistan ended in tragedy after the husband of Rubana Mukhtar, Azhar Iqbal, was shot and killed in front of her by two gunmen.

... John Hemming has outwardly called the attack "horrendous" and plans to support Rubana Mukhtar and her family where possible saying: "There are things that can be done".

The Government decision on the future of the controversial £17 billion High-Speed Rail link between London and Birmingham is set to be announced next week, it has emerged.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham MPs and council leaders threw their weight behind the High-Speed Rail project.

The letter, signed by Yardley MP John Hemming, Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood, Edgbaston MP Gisela Stuart, Redditch MP Karen Lumley, Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby and chief executive Stephen Hughes, called for construction to begin as soon as possible.