Dear readers — how was your weekend? Ours was pretty stellar, mainly due to an excellent Saturday edition, courtesy of Jon Neale, looking at a forgotten post-war policy that strangled Birmingham’s growth because central government thought the city was getting too wealthy at the expense of other English regions. This created conditions that meant when Margaret Thatcher and her deindustrialisation agenda came along, Brum was hit especially hard.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies called the piece “fascinating” and a “piece of economic history of which I was entirely unaware [...]. Important lessons here.” In the comments, Charles Barwell also shared a moving account of how his family’s thriving business — making brass taps — was prevented from expanding due to the policy and eventually had to merge with competitors.
Jon Neale
As well as Jon’s read on this slice of Brummie history, here’s what else we have in the bank for this week.
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Catch up and coming up:
- Birmingham’s massive 2023 bankruptcy has forever changed the course of the city. But, as more evidence emerges, last week Samuel asked: did the city need to go bust?
- The chocolate’s shrunk, Royal approval has been revoked and Bournville’s sidelined. Anya Ryan met up with Cadbury’s superfans to find out where Brum’s most famous export goes from here.
- Kate’s reporting on a bit of a Brummie black sheep: Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, father of eugenics and from a gunmaking Quaker family — quite the contradiction. Do you know anything about Galton? One of his ancestors? Shoot her an email at kate@birminghamdispatch.co.uk.
- Know anything about the property developer Sam Ginda and Future High Street Living? Contact Samuel at sam@birminghamdispatch.co.uk.
Now, here’s your Brum in brief.
Brum in brief:
💰 Pride director, chair of the Southside BID and Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands, Lawrence Barton has finally settled with creditors after the 2020 collapse of his business GB Training. An audit revealed that GB Training had been making “commercially unjustified” intercompany loans totalling £331k just before the organisation was registered for insolvency, owing around £8.4m million to creditors, including taxpayer funded bodies the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Education and Skills Funding Agency. In February 2025, it was revealed that there had been previous probes into “discrepancies” at Barton’s companies. Now Barton and liquidator Kevin Mawer have agreed an undisclosed agreement allowing for a distribution of funds to creditors — although it’s not been disclosed if taxpayer funded institutions like the WCMA and the North East Surrey College of Technology have received the total owed to them. During the five years it has taken to settle these accounts, public organisations have been deprived of much needed money; there has now been a call for Barton to resign his roles at Pride, the Southside BID and the West Midlands Lieutenancy.
Jack Walton
For his part, Barton gave The Dispatch this statement:
“I am happy to have agreed that this period of 5 years has reached a conclusion. I am happy a line has been drawn under it with all the parties involved, and I’m now looking forward to continuing my community and business activities and to making a success of the new venues re-opening next month and continuing to drive forward the Birmingham night time economy. I must stress that the allegations of funding over claims by the ESFA and others were never proven and the terms of the settlement reached in no way represents an acceptance of any culpability or guilt on this matter.”
🪖 The Dispatch attended a Ladywood protest outside the Indian Consulate on Friday, organised by Akhmed Yakoob, local politician and social media influencer. The demo was called amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, initially sparked by a late April attack in Kashmir killing 27 Hindu tourists, which India blamed its neighbour for, launching a drone and missile response on Pakistan, killing 31. Turnout at the Ladywood gathering was around 50 people; campaigner Shakeel Afsar led chants of “Modi is a terrorist” and “Indian butchers, out, out.” Afsar then went on to make the claims that the BJP, India’s ruling party wanted to “rape Muslim girls and impregnant them with Hindu babies.” He also referenced Leicester where Muslims and Hindus clashed in 2022 warning that it might happen again. Afsar stated that: “you saw what happened in Leicester, what we were forced to do to defend ourselves.”
Afsar promised to keep coming back to the embassy to force the staff to “use the back door.” Another speaker called on the Labour Party to reject the recently concluded trade deal with India, calling them “yes-men.” Finally, Yakoob turned up delivering the final speech of the protest. He cast doubt on Pakistan’s connection to the Pahalgam attack and called for a “stop to the killing.” The Indian Consulate has been approached for comment.
🥀 Devoted Dispatch readers will be familiar with the name Milkinderpal Jaspal, the millionaire Wolverhampton councillor for Labour in Heath Town, chair of the West Midlands Pension Fund and former lord mayor of the city who has been accused of lying about where he lives. Dispatch sources say that Jaspal — perhaps fed up with scrutiny over where he lays his head at night — has decided to throw in the local government towel and will not be putting himself forward to stand in next year’s local elections. What’s more, one of the properties he formerly claimed to be living in is up for sale and it appears the Jaspals have already moved home — where to, is anybody’s guess.
🚗 Birmingham and the West Midlands at once again at the centre of global news. Last week the UK and USA signed a trade deal. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the results of the deal at Jaguar Land Rover HQ in Solihull, telling assembled carworkers that he had managed to secure reduced tariffs — down from £27.5% to 10% — on the first 100,000 vehicles sent to America’s huge consumer market. Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, described the deal as a “significant moment,” going on to say that "nowhere is better placed to benefit than the West Midlands as our region exports more to the US than any other.” Jaguar Land Rover had previously paused exports to the USA after Trump announced unilateral "reciprocal tariffs" back in early April.
🗑️ Bins update: The bin strike is now in its 10th week. Last week, unions formed a ‘megapicket’ at Lifford Lane depot in Kings Norton, blocking vehicles from leaving to collect rubbish. Union members from all across the country travelled to Birmingham to take part in the picket including representatives from Aslef and the Fire Brigades Union. Kate Taylor, from the Brum Rise Up campaign, told the assembled trade unions that: “This bin strike is for all of us. It’s for all trade unionists. Today has to be the start of mobilising a wider movement.” Unite, the union behind the strikes, thanked members for their “solidarity.” The large picket was organised with the help of Strike Map, a collection of trade unionists who created a digital map tracking where industrial action is taking place across the nation.
Quick Hits:
🏠 Ladywood estate residents say they feel “confused” and “isolated” over redevelopment plans
🚌 West Midlands mayor has signed an order to bring the region’s buses back under public control
🎞️ John Bright Street’s Futurist Cinema has been Grade II listed
📱 West Midlands Police have issued a warning about a new WhatsApp scam spreading in the region
🏡 Birmingham City Council sign deal for 300 new homes in Yardley, with 50% for social rent
🏗 Five ‘huge’ city centre towers have been given planning approval
Media picks:
🎭 Read novelist and literary critic Ian Sansom’s rambling and affectionate account of a night spent in a cheap hotel in Birmingham while visiting his son, in the TLS. Sansom muses on Oedipus the King, the city’s beggars, its motorway system and boxing matches. After a very odd night, Sansom’s son greets him: “I tell my son about my night’s adventures. “Welcome to Birmingham”, he says. “All of human life is here.”
🚋 Westminster policy wonks are becoming very interested in Coventry’s trams. Economics and politics site CapX has hailed Coventry as the centre of a “tram revolution.” David Milner of Create Streets, an urban think tank, writes that “[in Coventry] eight weeks after work began, trams will flow up and down the street alongside normal traffic. To put that into perspective: Edinburgh took six years and Manchester four years to build their systems.” Coventry’s track is slated to only cost £15m per kilometre, a tiny amount compared to the average of £100m per kilometre in the UK. How are Coventry building trams so quickly and cheaply? The chief engineers of the project told CapX that they were designing trams to fit into preexisting streetscapes, rather than redesigning streetscapes to fit around the new trams.
Photo of the week:
Birmingham gears up for VE Day with Union Jack bunting in the Great Western Arcade.
Our to do list:
🎸 Get intergenerational with a Tuesday Young Gun Silver Fox gig at Hare and Hounds
🎶 Hundreds of dads will be having the best night of their life on Wednesday as Supergrass hit the O2 Academy
🎙 Comedian Nick Mohammed brings his alter ego ‘Mr. Shallow’ to the Alexandra Theatre on Thursday
🎤 Karaoke — yes. Dancehall — yes. Dancehall karaoke? Jury’s out. Go down to the Rainbow on Friday to show off your best Vybez Kartel vocals
🎨 Samuel may not have been that impressed by BMAG’s new Rembrandt show, but their Saturday late sounds like quite the event
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