Passengers faced average 30-minute wait, slightly worse than Manchester during 2022’s travel chaos
Passengers flying from Birmingham airport experienced the longest delays in the UK last year, official figures show.
Flight departures from Birmingham were on average half an hour behind schedule in 2022, marginally worse than Manchester, in a year marked by chaos for travellers.
Continue reading...Man, 28, arrested after out-of-control dogs injure six people and school goes into lockdown
Six people have been treated in hospital after two dogs on the loose attacked people near a primary school, police said.
An elderly man was taken to hospital with bite injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening after the incident in Willow Gardens, in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, shortly after 2.30pm on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Aural clock, designed by Turner prize winner Susan Philipz for Curzon Street HS2 station, features sounds made by 1,092 city folk
“I think your voice would suit an F sharp. So that will be six o’clock,” said composer Andy Ingamells as he listened to my feeble attempts to sing Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, my go-to karaoke song.
He is in the process of recording the voices of 1,092 ordinary people from across Birmingham and Solihull so they can be immortalised in the chimes of a singing station clock, which will be placed in the centre of the HS2 railway station being built in the city.
Continue reading...Giant teddy bear Bordesley is put in charge of Birmingham city council’s £3bn budget in Stan’s Cafe’s fun new production All Our Money
“It came from a place of … what is the worst idea you could possibly have for a theatre show?” says director James Yarker, as he flicks through a heavily annotated 90-page copy of Birmingham city council’s three-year financial plan.
His latest production, All Our Money, is a 50-minute exploration of the complexities of council budgets, told with the help of 6,000 gold blocks and a football mascot.
Continue reading...Birmingham-based Soffe family still fighting for compensation after fire in Gulf state left Elizabeth with life-threatening burns
A Birmingham family have revealed the distress they have endured in a six-year legal battle in Qatar to gain compensation for the severe injuries experienced by their youngest daughter when they lived in the Gulf state.
Elizabeth Soffe, now eight, received life-threatening burns as a baby in a fire at her family’s villa in Al Waab, near the country’s capital, Doha, in 2014.
Continue reading...Police launch murder inquiry after 23-year-old man was stabbed at Crane nightclub in Digbeth
Police have launched a murder investigation after a 23-year-old man was stabbed on the dancefloor of a nightclub in Birmingham on Boxing Day.
West Midlands police said they were called to Crane nightclub in Digbeth just before 11.45pm on Monday after reports that a man had been stabbed. Despite efforts to save him, the man was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
Continue reading...Minority ethnic people make up 59% and 51% of respective populations in UK’s first ‘super-diverse’ cities
Leicester and Birmingham have become the first “super-diverse” cities in the UK, where most people are from black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, according to the 2021 census.
A total of 59% of people in Leicester are from minority ethnic backgrounds, while 51% of Birmingham’s population are people of colour, as are 54% in Luton, according to the data. Across England and Wales, 18% of people are BAME.
Continue reading...Head of West Midlands police warns of rising crime in poorest areas as forces are stretched beyond capacity
A child experiencing a mental health crisis had to live in a police station for two days due to a lack of psychiatric places, a chief constable has revealed, as he condemned austerity for hitting the poorest areas hardest.
Sir David Thompson, who leads West Midlands police, said his force – which is still missing officers and funding after cuts – was being asked to do too much, and warned of rising crime as desperation increases in the poorest areas.
Dismissed attacks from government and rightwing media that claim the police are too woke.
Condemned those trying to drag policing into the “culture wars”.
Revealed fears that the poorest areas would be hit hardest again by the cost of living crisis, fuelling a “real risk” of rising crime.
Said that bias explained some of the reasons that black people experienced more use of force and coercive powers than other groups.
Called for a radical rethink on tackling the problems blighting society, as public services work in “silos”.
Warned that police were being expected to do too much, including in the field of mental health.
Continue reading...Party conference overshadowed by fears that refusing to do a U-turn on tax and spending cuts will kill off election chances
Liz Truss is struggling to persuade Conservative MPs to back her controversial mini-budget, with some even threatening all-out rebellion amid fears that they will once again become known as the “nasty party”.
The prime minister faces with a rising drumbeat of discontent that is overshadowing the Tory conference after she insisted she would “stand by” her plans to cut the top rate of income tax and ram through public spending cuts.
Continue reading...Tax cuts for the rich have not gone down well in Ladywood, the city constituency due to host the Conservatives’ annual gathering
Only the most bullish Conservative party strategist would have dared forecast the centre of Britain’s second-biggest city turning Tory anytime soon.
Yet as the real-life implications of the government’s mini-budget continued to crystallise on Saturday, anyone even contemplating a Conservative victory in central Birmingham should now be judged beyond delusional.
Continue reading...‘Special shuttle’ is only service running in Birmingham after the latest industrial action on the network in England and Wales
Rail strikes brought fresh misery for millions across the country on Saturday, including major disruption to Birmingham as it hosted one of the busiest days of the Commonwealth Games.
The latest round of strikes during a summer of chaos for passengers prompted bitter exchanges between union leaders and ministers.
Continue reading...Statue is recreation of pop art installation by Nicholas Munro displayed in city centre in 1970s
When the British pop artist Nicholas Monro was asked to make a public sculpture for Birmingham in the 1970s, he raised a few eyebrows when he produced an 18ft fibreglass statue of King Kong.
“It was really just a finger up to the system. They wanted something typical and boring, so he gave them a massive gorilla,” said Monro’s son Claude. “I think there was a certain amount of ‘Is this art? What is this?’” added Joe, Claude’s elder brother.
Continue reading...Man remains in hospital with life-threatening injuries after explosion in Midlands on Sunday evening
A woman has been found dead after a house explosion in Birmingham, while a man remains in hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The blast, which happened at about 8.40pm on Sunday, destroyed one house completely and significantly damaged three others.
Continue reading...Police confirmed a suspect had been taken into custody after the attack at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham
A shooting at a church in a suburb of one of Alabama’s major cities left two people dead and two others wounded on Thursday, police said, adding a suspect was quickly taken into custody.
The shooting erupted inside St Stephen’s Episcopal church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills.
Continue reading...Heather Wheeler, a minister in the Cabinet Office, made comments at technology event in London
A UK government minister has apologised after calling England’s second city and one of the country’s best-known seaside resorts as “godawful”.
Heather Wheeler referred to Birmingham and Blackpool during a launch of the government’s new digital strategy on Thursday. According to Chris Middleton, a technology journalist who was at the launch, the junior minister in the Cabinet Office said: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”
Continue reading...TSSA union ballots could lead to complete national shutdown by time of Commonwealth Games in July
Managers and train drivers could join the strikes across the railway, potentially setting up a complete national shutdown by the time of the Commonwealth Games in July.
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) union, whose members manage control rooms, signalling and power for train operators and Network Rail, has launched its first strike ballot, while the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) union has called the first regional walkouts by drivers.
Continue reading...Artworks by sculptor William Mitchell, designed to encourage public interaction, earn Grade-II accolade
A group of concrete murals on a flyover in Birmingham, known as a “brutalist climbing wall”, have been given listed status.
The three-banked mural walls flanking the entrance to the Hockley flyover underpass feature geometric shapes and abstract patterns and were designed by the sculptor William Mitchell to encourage public interaction.
Continue reading...Exclusive: panel says organisers have failed to engage city’s diverse groups in a meaningful way
Organisers of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham have left diverse communities feeling “largely ignored” and have failed to engage them in a meaningful way, according to a report.
The Birmingham Race Impact Group (BRIG) commissioned a panel of race equality practitioners and consultants to assess the Games in a number of areas including legacy, community engagement and procurement.
Continue reading...Union’s offices raided as part of investigation into allegations of bribery, fraud and money laundering
A police inquiry involving a Unite union official is examining contracts related to the construction of a £98m hotel and conference centre in Birmingham, the Guardian has learned.
South Wales police and HM Revenue and Customs raided the union’s offices in central London on Thursday as part of an investigation into allegations of bribery, fraud and money laundering.
Continue reading...Activists climb on tankers and glue themselves to roads around London, Birmingham and Southampton
Hundreds of environmental protesters have blocked seven oil terminals across the country as part of a campaign to paralyse the UK’s fossil fuel infrastructure.
Early on Friday, supporters of Just Stop Oil began blockades at oil refineries around London, Birmingham and Southampton by climbing on top of tankers and gluing themselves to road surfaces.
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