Birmingham Post - News Blog

Sacking Birmingham social workers a flimsy smokescreen to disguise council's Khyra Ishaq failings

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:48:10 +0000

Birmingham City Council got the favourable publicity it craved by offering a cosy chat to the BBC with Children's Services Director Colin Tucker.
During the course of a half-hour discussion, Mr Tucker let slip that six social workers had been sacked for incompetence during the past year.
The inference, in the course of a discussion about the death of Khyra Ishaq, was obvious enough.
Council social services, under fire for failing Khyra by failing to investigate properly her teachers' concerns that she was being quite literally starved to death by a deranged mother and step-father, was demonstrating that it could be tough when required.

HS2: "high-speed phallic sleekness" or part of a bigger vision to address the North-South imbalance?

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:11:36 +0000

High Speed 2 presents great opportunities to redress the UK's North-South imbalance. But it can only capitalise on these opportunities if it's part of a bigger agenda than getting people from A to B.

In an article about High Speed 2 in Friday's London Evening Standard, Andrew Neather asserted that getting to the Bull Ring ("but hey! did you really want to go?") in less than an hour wasn't worth the £30bn ticket, echoing Paul Dale's blog though from a perspective much closer to St Pancras and HS1.

Don't be surprised when high speed rail hits the buffers

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:40:06 +0000

Is there a General Election in the offing?
Excuse me for sounding a tad cynical, but just pause to think about the Damascene conversion of Labour and Conservative parties to the cause of high speed rail.
We all like the vision of 250mph bullet trains rocketing through the countryside, cutting journey times between Brimingham and London to 50 minutes. Very sexy.
It's the sort of feel-good policy that politicians love to promote.
Remember John Kennedy's man-on-the-moon ambitions in 1960?
The subsequent space race embraced cutting-edge new technology and made the Americans feel even better about themselves than they normally do.

Birmingham City Council still in deep denial over Khyra Ishaq tragedy

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:38:04 +0000

The sentencing of Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamza for the manslaughter of Khyra Ishaq - the seven-year-old Handsworth girl brutally starved to death under the very noses of social services - will do nothing whatsoever to shift the arrogant culture of denial at Birmingham City Council.
Hours before the pair were due in court, a council spokeswoman was still peddling the line that talk of serious mistakes by social workers and education official contributing to Khyra's death was simply "a matter of opinion".

Happy cities -- stitching the disconnections?

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:57:52 +0000

Architect Irena Bauman's MADE talk next Thursday (6:30pm, Birmingham Conservatoire) has an intriguing title Happy Cities: Stitiching the Disconnections. But then this remarkable Leeds-based woman is the author of How to be a Happy Architect.

Earthquakes & tsunamis - trusting in gods, mammon or science

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:01:07 +0000

The massive destruction we see in the news from Chile was caused by the biggest earthquake the world has seen for years. Yet news reports say hundreds of people have died. Tragic though their deaths are, terrifying though the circumstances are for the survivors, we inevitably compare the impact of this earthquake with the vast hellish devastation in Haiti with the hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed amid the rubble.

Commons Inquiry to Get to the Truth Behind Rover and Cadbury

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:42:49 +0000

If you want to find out what lies behind the major business stories in the West Midlands, it's worth keeping an eye on Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff (Con) and the Commons Business Committee, which he chairs.

Today, he announced plans to interrogate senior managers from Kraft and Cabdury about the US food giant's takeover of the chocolatemaker.

And the committee is also dragging the former managers of MG Rover, known popularly as the Phoenix Four, for a grilling.

However, there is no fixed date for the Rover session - because the Committee is waiting for Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to decide whether to bring legal action which could disqualify them from becoming directors.

Mr Luff said "We decided that in light of the fact that court proceedings appear likely, it would not be right for us to proceed with the evidence session at the current time. However, I should emphasise that this is a postponement not a cancellation.

"Should proceedings not go ahead we will call in the four directors at the earliest opportunity. We also reserve the right to call them to give evidence once any legal proceedings have concluded."

Bullying . . . and the silencing of the alternative view

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:56:04 +0000

The emotionally charged stories emanating from Number 10 may seem a long way from this region's economic future, and the role of the automotive industry in it. But the silencing of an alternative view doesn't happen just in Downing Street, nor does the surfacing of that view, if part of reality, stay down for long.

High Speed Rail - Don't Panic Yet

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:53:29 +0000

Some of today's headlines suggest the Conservatives are threatening to pull out of supporting plans for a high speed rail service between London and Birmingham. This is not correct, from what I have been able to discover.

It began with a story in the Guardian, which says Conservatives have "refused to back a proposed 200mph London-to-Birmingham rail route". This is true, but the key word there is "route". It refers to a report suggesting a precise proposed route, setting out lines on a map to within five metres in urban areas and 25 metres in the countryside. (The Guardian makes this clear later in its story).

Refusing to commit to those exact proposals is not the same as backing out of building the new rail line. Strictly speaking, Labour is also "refusing" to back the proposed route, in as much as Transport Secretary Lord Adonis says nothing has been decided yet, and won't be until there is a full public consultation.

Of course, what we don't know is exactly how either party plans to pay for the new line. It's reasonable to be a little sceptical about whether it will ever be built, but today's spat about the route doesn't change anything.

This isn't the first time Conservatives have expressed doubt about the Government inquiry into the exact route. Speaking to The Birmingham Post last August, Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers said it would be only one of the studies a Tory government took into account, and pointed out that her proposals - for a national service stretching to Manchester and Leeds - were different to Labour's, which initially would take in only London and Birmingham (although Labour says this would probably be only the first stage).

What doesn't make sense is her refusal to even look at the Government's report. Lord Adonis has offered her a sneak preview, but she declined.

Some reports suggest the Conservatives are worried about upsetting voters in constituencies where the new high speed line will be built. Perhaps so but, simply by promising to build a high speed line, both parties are effectively promising to dig up parts of the picturesque Chilterns, where the line is expected to run, whether or not they specify the exact route.

Maybe We Should Welcome Honest Debate About "Scum Sucking Pigs"

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:16:54 +0000

I've written a column for tomorrow's Birmingham Post having a bit of a dig at David Wright, the Labour MP for Telford and Government whip, who is asking messaging service Twitter to investigate why a message or "tweet" he sent was apparently "tinkered with" to describe the Tories as "scum sucking pigs".

He says he was merely echoing the phrase "you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig", which was used during the US Presidential election campaign and is meant to suggest that giving the Tories a makeover to look nicer doesn't change what they really are. The reference to "scum" was somehow added in by a third party, apparently.

I point out that some of the other messages from his Twitter account - which I don't believe he has disowned - are also written in an aggressive and rather immature manner.

But columnist Rod Liddle will present a different view in this week's Spectator, the weekly magazine sympathetic to the Conservatives.

According to a preview of his article, which The Spectator was kind enough to send me, he argues: "Let's be honest, true feelings are sometimes visceral, they are not thought through, they are casually tossed off as part of a debate or argument and can be very easily taken out of context."

And although he predicts politicians using the Internet to communicate with the public will increasingly be censored by party spin-doctors, he describes this as "fundamentally undemocratic", concluding: "That visceral dislike is rooted in principle . . . I would far rather that than the chloroform of the present debate."

Perhaps he's right.

Kraft Chief Executive's Personal Promise to Britain over Cadbury

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:04:22 +0000

Kraft Chief Exectuive Irene Rosenfeld has sent a letter to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson insisting that the proposed takeover of Cadbury is "good news for British manufacturing" and promising to act with "respect for Cadbury's heritage, people and identity".

While it is a personal letter, and I don't believe it has been publicly released yet, it is in effect the promise Kraft is making to the British government and Britain as a whole.

Here is what it says:

Rt Hon Lord Mandelson
Secretary of State
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
19 January 2010

Dear Secretary of State:

Further to my letter to you of December 10th, you will know that this morning we announced the detailed terms of our Final Offer for Cadbury and that the board of Cadbury unanimously recommends Cadbury Securityholders to accept the terms of this Offer.

I am confident that the combination of Kraft Foods and Cadbury is good news for both companies. As we have said, the Offer reflects our view of the strength of Cadbury's business, its brands and the future potential for growth. I also believe that, over the long term, this is good news for British manufacturing and will enable us to accelerate growth beyond what the two companies could achieve alone.

I recognise the concerns of the UK government and I can again assure you of our intentions to proceed with sincere respect for Cadbury's heritage, people and identity.

Yours sincerely,

Irene B Rosenfeld

1,380 lost jobs at Birmingham City Council a small sign of cuts to come

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:14:09 +0000

How entirely predictable that Birmingham City Council should own up to a possible 1,380 redundancies late on a Friday afternoon.
A perfect time to attempt to bury bad news, as a government adviser once memorably stated.
It gives me absolutely no pleasure to say 'I told you so', for this will be a personal tragedy for every individual dumped on the dole queue.
But it is now clear that the claim perpetuated by council leaders for two years, that the city's business transformation programme is not about getting rid of jobs, was little more than a cynical myth.
It is true that the latest job-shedding exercise, mainly in children's social services, is being driven forward by the near certainty of savage government spending cuts next year. But the whole ethos of business transformation - seeking to save £900 million over 10 years through adopting "more efficient ways of working" - is about slashing the council's 42,000 non-schools workforce.

Turnround of UK largest cities critical to the national recovery

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:55:40 +0000

Jonathan Walker's headline Birmingham must lead the way in reviving UK economy is about about the 2010 Cities Outlook published today. At a first reading, I took his headline to mean this city is at the forefront of solving the UK's economic problems.

Not so, as his article goes on to explain. Indeed, the 2010 Cities Outlook makes far less a sanguine read than his headline would suggest.

Why should taxpayers' fund free gym sessions for Birmingham's middle classes?

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:50:58 +0000

How the well-heeled middle classes of Moseley and Kings Heath must be sniggering at the generosity of Birmingham City Council.
And if they care to think about it as they roar around in their 4x4s they might even be a little surprised, when everyone in the public sector is talking about an impending financial nightmare and savage cuts to services, that the kind-hearted council is offering free gym membership to all regardless of circumstances.
The £9 million Be Active scheme in association with primary health care trusts, which has been rolled out across Birmingham, is doubtless well-meant.
It offers gym membership and swimming sessions at no cost provided participants sign up to use the facilities at least once a week.

At Least One Cabinet Member Did Back Gordon Brown

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:35:38 +0000

There's a lot of speculation today about the time it took for members of the cabinet to come out in support of Gordon Brown and against calls for a secret ballot on his removal yesterday.

Apparently, the fact that senior Cabinet Ministers waited hours to make a statement suggests their support for Mr Brown was half-hearted.

I should probably point out that at least one Cabinet Minister did rule out a ballot straight away.

Liam Byrne, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill spoke to the Birmingham Post and Mail at about 12.40 yesterday afternoon, about 15 minutes after the Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt sent out their e-mail (and just moments after he first heard about it).