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Now the brick's unlikely to stop at green belt

If a week in politics is a long time then a year must be an eternity, but it is now almost 12 months since West Midlands council leaders reluctantly offered Whitehall a compromise by agreeing to plan for 362,000 new homes to be built across the region by 2026. Read

A divided flock

If taken at face value, the suggestion by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham Vincent Nichols that Catholics across the West Midlands should pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and for the success of the Lambeth conference must be seen as a positive intervention. Read

We need India to be a partner, not a challenge

The prediction that India is expected to become the second largest economy in the world is not new, but it is worth considering. Read

No complacency – and no exaggeration

Knife crime has been top of the agenda in recent days, for understandable reasons. Read

Restore our faith in pensions to control housing

The contradiction between Government housing policy and the reality on the ground has been clear for some time. Read

Home secretary cannot win the knives debate

If there is a sense of hopelessness about the Home Secretary's latest pronouncements on knife crime, that is because Jacqui Smith knows she is almost certainly on to a hiding to nothing no matter what she says or does. Read

Labour falls out with Mondeo man

Almost as every week passes the Government appears no longer in charge of its own destiny, stumbling from one disaster to another, hoping against hope to borrow the immortal words of Mr Micawber that something will turn up to save it from defeat at the next General Election. Read

Scrutiny bodies are a welcome development

The way we are to be governed in the West Midlands is at least becoming clear. Read

The rush to find dishonesty within politics

The continuing controversy about MPs’ expenses brings with it a number of dangers, not least the risk of treating all of our politicians as potential criminals. Read

A question of leadership we need to answer

London’s mayoral elections earlier this year demonstrated that a contest between two heavyweight contenders could grip the public’s imagination. Read

Good business to offer rewards for school performance

Schools are not businesses. At least not in the way we normally consider them. You cannot, for example, compare running a school to managing a supermarket. Read

Digby Jones has his critics - but he also has talents

One decision Gordon Brown has stuck to is his appointment of a “Government of all the talents”, including Birmingham business leader Digby Jones. Read

Big challenges lie ahead for our RDAs

Regional development agencies play an important role in supporting businesses and promoting economic development, not least here in the West Midlands. Read

Things can only get worse for Gordon Brown

Remember 1997, when things could only get better? Read

Straw is facing a difficult balancing act

The alarm shown by Justice Secretary Jack Straw at the prospect of 40 convicted murders and terrorists walking free from jail because of a loophole in the law is understandable. Read

We must heed wise words to halt flooding

When it comes to emergency planning, any Government must carefully calculate the likelihood of disaster occurring and then proceed to tread a careful path between warning the public and scaring people witless about calamities that are most unlikely to happen. The debate in Britain in the past has centred very much on the extent to which it is affordable or even desirable to plan for dealing with once-in-a-lifetime events. Read

We must insist on top schools despite poverty

Gordon Brown faces the same dilemma that has vexed earlier politicians hoping to raise standards of education in deprived areas. Read

Voters will have their say over road pricing

Seizing the moment as only a politician can, with breathtaking opportunism, the leader of the opposition Labour group on Birmingham City Council yesterday decided to claim that the West Midlands' refusal to volunteer for road pricing experiments risked the region being left behind when decisions about transport infrastructure spending are made by the Government. Read

Ministers told: don't believe the green hype

A commitment to protecting the environment has become as necessary for politicians today as a commitment to kissing babies.The focus on green issues is a response to public concern about the possible effects of climate change in our planet. Read

Parties must select the right school system

You've got to give Ed Balls credit for making his position clear. Read

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