Iron Angle

School's out for the next generation of Tories May 04 2008

It’s not just the policemen that are getting younger, Birmingham’s new generation of politicians are little more than teenagers.Read

Aston election campaign gets nastier and nastier Apr 26 2008

With under a week to go to the city council elections Labour and the Liberal Democrats continue to hurl insults at each other in one of the grubbiest campaigns for years. Read

Hughes stars in council's video nasty Apr 19 2008

The latest attempt by Birmingham City Council to sell its pay and grading review to 5,000 employees whose wages are being cut smacks of utter desperation.Read

Legalese excuse for red route debacle Apr 12 2008

Airza Ahmad, Birmingham City Council's irrepressible Chief Legal Officer, has been in magisterial form on the matter of the Stratford Road red route.Read

Confusion all round for Labour in Kingstanding Apr 05 2008

Grundygate - the will-she-won’t-she-stand saga surrounding Kingstanding Labour councillor Cath Grundy - continues to be a huge talking point for Birmingham’s politicos.Read

Biased reporting? Read all about it! Mar 29 2008

A measure of desperation is creeping into the Liberal Democrat election campaign in Sparkbrook, where the party is distributing its own shock-horror tabloid newspaperRead

Wake-up call for the city planners Mar 21 2008

The bizarre prosecution by the Standards Board of Birmingham councillors Martin Mullaney and Ernie Hendricks after they filmed the interior of a listed building said to be at risk of collapse put the planning department in a very bad light. Read

Brave move to champion a red route Mar 16 2008

Bad news for Birmingham Liberal Democrat city councillor Jerry Evans, who will be seeking re-election in Springfield ward in May.Read

Just think what we could do with £200m Mar 07 2008

Birmingham's biggest land sale for decades - disposal of the Wholesale Markets - could be finalised within weeks, netting the city council more than £200 million.Read

Keep looking over your shoulder, Mike Feb 29 2008

How safe is Mike Whitby's position as the leader of Birmingham City Council? An odd question, you may feel, since Whitby is on something of a high at the moment.Read

Metro route could divide the city Feb 16 2008

After Birmingham and the West Midlands beat the Government into submission over funding for New Street Station, much thought is being given to mounting a similar campaign for the proposed Midland Metro tram extensions. Read

Binmen clean up with new pay deal Feb 09 2008

Refuse collection team leaders - Birmingham City Council dustcart drivers in plain English - will be able to earn a princely £38,480 a year from April 2010.Read

An absence of senior Lib Dems - and 'grime music' Jan 26 2008

Saeed Aehmed, the Birmingham council candidate who alleges he was beaten by Labour in Aston off the back of a particularly crude smear campaign, is cutting a solitary figure in the lengthy election court case. Read

Battle over Birmingham Library about to intensify Sep 12 2008

Alarm bells are ringing at Birmingham Council House over the expectation that Culture Minister Margaret Hodge is on the verge of announcing whether the Central Library is to be listed. Read

Budget write-offs the Birmingham City Council way Sep 05 2008

Financial wizards at Birmingham City Council have invented a new way of accounting which may be useful to us all during these difficult times.Read

Hero Mike has a last-minute attack of modesty Aug 08 2008

Mike Whitby’s florid account of the resumption of production of MG sports cars at Longbridge bore more than a passing resemblance to the efforts of another Tory wordsmith, Lord Jeffrey Archer. Read

Neville trips over the green belt Aug 02 2008

Neville Summerfield, Birmingham cabinet member for regeneration-lite, had a big day last Monday.Read

Civic Society in a muddle over Colmore Row Jul 26 2008

Another embarrassing crisis has rocked the hallowed portals of the Birmingham Civic Society.Read

Council stuck in the bus lane when it comes to decisions Jul 19 2008

It is four years since transportation cabinet member Len Gregory decided to suspend “temporarily” the A38 Tyburn Road bus lanes. Read

Birmingham Labour's talent for talking rubbish Jul 11 2008

Unfortunately, I could not attend last week’s Birmingham City Council meeting. Well, you can only have so much of a good thing.Read

Council warns staff to steer clear of the cannibalism website Jul 05 2008

Jobsworths at Birmingham City Council have compiled a fascinating list of websites that local authority staff are banned from using while at work.Read

John Lines avoids Cairns-like censure over 'scumbag' comment Jun 21 2008

While most Conservatives never forgave Theresa May for describing Tories as the nasty party and still fewer understood why she believed that to be the case, her comments forced a change in attitude among the image-conscious backers of David Cameron.Read

Labour risk losing Ladywood to Ayoub Khan Jun 13 2008

Labour, having split its own ranks with a spectacularly botched selection of a candidate to replace Clare Short MP in Ladywood at the next General Election, is quickly waking up to the fact that this once rock-solid seat could be lost to, of all people, the Liberal Democrats.Read

The wait for that Lib Dem inquiry goes on ... Jun 07 2008

More than two months have passed since Elections Commissioner Timothy Straker QC criticised the character and motives of Birmingham Lib Dem cabinet member Ayoub Khan and the party’s Aston council candidate Saeed Aehmed.Read

Too much information, Keely May 25 2008

I am fascinated to read the latest Facebook entry from Keely Huxtable, who is the prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Northfield.Read

Birmingham Labour can't escape the threat of mutiny May 17 2008

Birmingham Labour councillor Yvonne Mosquito has been deposed as vice-chairman of the West Midlands Police Authority.Read

Grundy shows her credentials for leading Birmingham Labour May 10 2008

Don’t you just love it when politicians standing for high office say ’it’s nothing personal’?Read

School's out for the next generation of Tories May 04 2008

It’s not just the policemen that are getting younger, Birmingham’s new generation of politicians are little more than teenagers.Read

Aston election campaign gets nastier and nastier Apr 26 2008

With under a week to go to the city council elections Labour and the Liberal Democrats continue to hurl insults at each other in one of the grubbiest campaigns for years. Read

Hughes stars in council's video nasty Apr 19 2008

The latest attempt by Birmingham City Council to sell its pay and grading review to 5,000 employees whose wages are being cut smacks of utter desperation.Read

Legalese excuse for red route debacle Apr 12 2008

Airza Ahmad, Birmingham City Council's irrepressible Chief Legal Officer, has been in magisterial form on the matter of the Stratford Road red route.Read

Confusion all round for Labour in Kingstanding Apr 05 2008

Grundygate - the will-she-won’t-she-stand saga surrounding Kingstanding Labour councillor Cath Grundy - continues to be a huge talking point for Birmingham’s politicos.Read

Biased reporting? Read all about it! Mar 29 2008

A measure of desperation is creeping into the Liberal Democrat election campaign in Sparkbrook, where the party is distributing its own shock-horror tabloid newspaperRead

Wake-up call for the city planners Mar 21 2008

The bizarre prosecution by the Standards Board of Birmingham councillors Martin Mullaney and Ernie Hendricks after they filmed the interior of a listed building said to be at risk of collapse put the planning department in a very bad light. Read