Dear readers — Samuel received a nice surprise late Sunday evening while making supper with BBC Radio 6 on in the background. As he was draining his pasta, he heard the Lancashire tones of presenter Stuart Maconie utter the words "Birmingham Dispatch." It turns out Maconie is a big fan of Kate’s feature on the arguments dividing Birmingham post-punk band the Au Pairs. Maconie called The Dispatch “one of [those] excellent new online local newspaper magazines.” We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
Today’s top story is about how BBC reporting on a Sikh organisation’s new drive to hand out rape alarms has missed a crucial element: their links to the far-right.
Elsewhere, anti-digital ID protests have been making their presence known at New Street Station, a man has been arrested for an unprovoked stabbing at the same station, and Sandwell Council is planning to raise council tax to plug a “black hole” in its budget.
Catch up:
- On the weekend Samuel published a feature exploring Birmingham City University’s relationship with porn studies. Want to know why Birmingham City council banned a group of academics from showing a film featuring a dominatrix and a man in a gimp suit? “Once again another interesting story about an aspect of Birmingham about which I knew nothing,” says one reader in the comments. Read more here.
- Mid-week we published an excellent data-led article by Matty Edwards exploring the extent to which Birmingham City Council’s assets have been sold off after declaring bankruptcy in 2023.
Christmas is nigh and we’re feeling festive at The Dispatch. It’s been a fantastic, hectic year, so what better way to celebrate than bringing our community together in a beloved local bar and getting them to duke it out for a £100 cash prize?
That’s right; on 18 December, The Dispatch is going to be hosting its very own Christmas quiz! We’ll be taking over the Jewellery Quarter’s Temper and Brown, for an evening of testing your knowledge on everything from music, history, pop culture and — of course — Birmingham.
Tickets are £3 for The Dispatch's paying supporters (use your code) and £4 for free subscribers and non-members (who are extremely welcome to come along). Minimum teams of two and maximum six; the winners will receive £100 in cash. There will also be plenty of time for mingling after the main business of the evening has wrapped up.
Join us from 7.30pm on 18 December for some classic Christmas celebrations.
Photo of the week:
Local photographer Mac McCreery (MacinDigbeth on Instagram) used a slow shutter speed to capture this frenzy of pigeons at St Philip’s Cathedral. Speaking of pigeons, have you ever read our story about the bombardment of birds in Sparkbrook?
Brum in Brief:
⏰ After a series of alleged racially-aggravated sexual assaults against Sikh women, gurdwaras in the West Midlands are handing out “rape alarms” to the community, according to the BBC. However, the broadcaster has fallen short in its reporting about the organisation behind the programme. Sikh Youth is a pro-Khalistan organisation and a driving force behind the rape alarm initiative. But they also have links to far-right activist Tommy Robinson and its founders have been convicted of money laundering via Sikh Youth, as The Dispatch has previously reported.
Sikh Youth’s current campaign in gurdawaras includes handing out leaflets, telling Sikh women to: “avoid using headphones” and to “avoid walking alone.” BBC Midlands Today also uncritically covered Sikh UK’s efforts on live TV, interviewing Deepa Singh (one of the convicted leaders) at the Coventry Gurdwara without mentioning his criminal record for providing false information to the Charities Commission or links to Robinson.
Kate Knowles
🚨 A man in his twenties has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a woman was stabbed in the neck outside the Bullring shopping centre on Saturday evening. The woman, who is in her thirties, suffered a serious neck injury and is in hospital in a critical condition according to West Midlands Police. Their spokesperson said the “unprovoked attack” occurred just before 9pm and they are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. (BBC).
🪯 The family of Avtar Singh Khanda, a sikh separatist who died in Sandwell in 2023, have renewed their calls for an inquest into his death, following an investigation by Bloomberg News. The reporter found that UK authorities may have known that the Indian government wanted to have him killed. (X).
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Quick Hits:
🤖 Anti-digital ID protestors “storm” Birmingham New Street Station (Brum Life).
🔥 Yet another fire in the Digbeth area around Bradford Street (Birmingham Mail).
⛏️ A 12ft statue has been erected in Cradley Heath to honor ‘reserved occupations’ during WWII (BBC).
⚽ Aston Villa fans have raised £20k for Punjab flood relief work being undertaken by the Midland Langar Seva Society (BBC).
📈 Sandwell Council tax to rise in order to cover “£17m hole” in budget. (Birmingham Mail).
👮 National data reveals Warwickshire has experienced the steepest drop in police funding per capita in England and Wales. (CoventryLive).
Media picks:
🎧 Following on from last Monday’s Big Story on new government data showing Birmingham has some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, the New Statesman’s podcast has taken to the airwaves to breakdown the numbers. Host Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman’s data journalist Ben Walker who points out that Birmingham neighbourhoods like Handsworth have soared up the deprivation rankings between 2019 and 2025.
📰 Bloomberg have published a long-read investigation into the Indian government’s intelligence campaigns against Khalistan-supporting Sikhs in the UK. While Matthew Campbell’s piece roams across the globe from India to the USA, a part of the article focuses on the alleged assasination of Birmingham’s Avtar Singh Khanda.
Our to do list:
🗣️ On Tuesday, discover how and why trauma manifests in the body at a fascinating talk with Dr Susanna Petche at Glee Club. Tickets from £13.27.
🎤 It’s Poet’s Palace on Wednesday, where headliners Yazzie Min and Babo will see you through the midweek with spoken word and soulful sounds. Tickets from £6.13.
📖 End the week at Waterstones in the company of two bestselling authors. Olivie Blake and Lucy Rose will be discussing their new, deliciously dark novels on Friday with the poet Leena Norms. Tickets from £4.
🧸 On Sunday, join local artist PowPowPoonam at the Mockingbird Cinema for Tear and Share Nightmare Bear: a crafty evening of ripping apart teddy bears to create something new and frightening that Dr Frankenstein would be proud of. Afterwards, enjoy a mystery movie on the big screen. Tickets £22.38.
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