Green party councillor suspended after ‘assaulting’ three police officers

Dear readers — welcome to your Monday briefing. Our weekends were a hoot: Kate is in the depths of wedding planning and spent Saturday morning selecting wine to serve at the knees up (apparently it's acceptable to drink before 11am if you are preparing for nuptials). Olivia was more gregarious, dancing the day away at Victoria Square’s Jamaican 0121 Festival and single-handedly contradicting the suggestion in our weekend read that the city centre is dead (editor’s note: over 50 comments in my favour says I’m not accepting one fun day as comprehensive evidence to the contrary).

But the day’s headlines are a bit more serious. The local Green Party has been rocked after a prominent councillor has wound up in court, charged with assaulting five people — including three police officers. Elsewhere, the Labour group leader can’t seem to make her mind up about a local event that’s been attacked in the Daily Express, and Brum welcomes Europe’s top athletes to the Alexander Stadium.

That’s all in your briefing, below.

Catch up and coming up:

Last Wednesday, Kate kicked off a debate about town vs the suburbs: which is buzzier? We got a huge number of responses, with most of you adamant that (some) suburbs are far more fun than the city centre. For the weekend read, Kate explored why we are turning our backs on town and what’s so great about the alternatives. Catch up here.
Aside from the turf wars, Kate’s writer’s edition also covered the breakneck business strategy change over at Birmingham Live, the Booker Prize nominated novel by local author Luke Kennard, and a meditation on pubs. Catch up here.

Photo of the week

A staircase on the side of Ladbrooke Hotel in Digbeth photographed at sunrise by Brum based photographer Ronnie Ackling.

Brum in Brief

Former mayoral candidate arrested for assaulting three police officers

Siobhan Harper-Nunes, a Green party councillor for Ladywood and former mayoral candidate, has been charged with assaulting five people including three police officers. Police were called to reports of disorder in Edgbaston at around 5pm on Thursday, near the junction of Monument Road and Hagley Road, after which the 66-year-old was arrested. In the days since, she has been posting her version of events on social media — we can’t share this for legal reasons, but Harper-Nunes seems to have no such qualms. She’ll be up in Birmingham Magistrate’s Court on 10 September for a plea hearing and has been suspended from the Greens, pending an investigation. Harper-Nunes is big on the local business and political scene. Not only did she run for the West Midlands mayoralty in 2024, she’s the founder of Shakti Women, a ‘women’s empowerment agency’ for businesswomen and also the vice chair of the Birmingham Race Impact Group. (ITV)

Where does Birmingham Labour’s leader stand… on mangos?

Amid a bit of a furore from national press, Mango Mela — a street party devoted to the juicy fruit — takes place today on Soho Road, Handsworth. The event is billed as an opportunity to celebrate food, culture and community, but its organisers have come under scrutiny by right-wing papers and parties in recent weeks. The Daily Express published an exclusive earlier this month that revealed the Spirit of Pakistan Festival, which organises Mango Mela, has received £30,000 from Birmingham city council this year (it isn’t clear how much, if any, of this money, has been spent on Mango Mela which is primarily run by local businesses). Birmingham Reform quickly shared the story to Facebook, with group leader Jex Parkin questioning if it “is really the right priority” for a cash-strapped local authority. So far, so Reform. But we spotted an interesting name among the 203 who liked the post: Birmingham Labour leader Nicky Brennan, engaging via her personal account. This is surprising, given that Brennan attended Spirit of Pakistan’s opening event last month. In a post on her official Facebook profile, Brennan praised the festival for “continuing the incredible legacy of [the late Labour councillor and festival founder] Waseem Zaffar”. The Dispatch reached out to Brennan who responded after publication to say that she had liked the post by mistake. “I’m really happy they’ve spent money on it. I think it’s a great festival,” she told us. “Me and my kids are off to the mango festival now and really looking forward to it.”

Screenshot showing Nicky Brennan liking the Reform post on Facebook.

First timers

The European Athletics Championships will kick off in Birmingham today, marking the first time the competition has ever been held in Great Britain. Throughout this week, 1,500 athletes from 49 nations will descend on the city, competing for 50 gold medals in an event that it is hoped will reignite some of the positive vibes of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The CEO of UK Athletics, the national governing body for the sport, described our Alexander Stadium — that was revamped for the earlier event — as one of the best tracks in Europe. Jack Buckner said, "To do it for the first time and to do it in Birmingham is brilliant. It's great for our athletes, it's great for the city." (BBC).

Quick Hits

👮 West Midlands Police have launched a fresh appeal to find Birmingham-born Sarjit Kaur Mann, who went missing on a family holiday in France nearly 50 years ago. (BBC)

✈️ Passengers traveling from Birmingham Airport were left without their luggage over the weekend, with one traveller describing the situation as “absolute chaos”. (BBC)

🏘️ A group of young volunteers from Birmingham travelled to a remote village in Ghizer in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, to help set up a rescue centre, after a glacial lake outburst flood devastated the community. (BBC)

Media picks

🍜 On a quest to find the UK's best Ramen, food journalist Jimi Famurewa heads to Pete Dovaston’s Maneki Ramen in the Jewerelly Quarter. His verdict on the Sichuan duck noodles? “It's got complexity, it's got brightness, it's got zing.” Watch the latest episode of ‘Feed with Jimi Famurewa’ to see how the Birmingham restaurant stacks up against other raved about spots. (The Guardian)

🌼 If it weren't for the large steel fences looming above, the leafy oasis filled with manicured flowerbeds at HMP Birmingham could be mistaken for a display at Kew Gardens, according to Times reporter Sanchez Manning. She visits the prison to understand how gardening has become a lifeline for some inmates. (The Times, £)

Our to do list

🖼️ Head to the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Gallery for a new exhibition celebrating the journeys, lives and contributions of Caribbean people who arrived in Britain in the 1950s and 60s. The exhibition is running every day this week until 15 August.

🥭 The aforementioned Spirit of Pakistan Festival is hosting Mango Mela this afternoon outside Handsworth Library. That means, every mango flavoured delicacy you could ever imagine (lassis, chaat, curries, dessert to name a few), plus good music and vibes.

🎉 St Paul's Summer Fete and Birmingham Artisan market takes place this Saturday in St Pauls Square from 12-5pm. Activities range from graphology readings with the Pen museum to agility courses for your furry four-legged friends.