Good morning readers — welcome to your Monday briefing, especially the tidal wave of new members who signed up over the weekend. We’re very happy to say we passed our 1,400 goal! This means a lot to us — the more readers we have, the more likely it is that we will be here for both a good time and a long one. Thank you, wholeheartedly, for your support.
Today’s Brum in Brief includes scandal, lies and (inevitably) bins. The chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque is facing calls to step down because he lied under oath to an election court. It’s the latest repercussion since it emerged the former Birmingham councillor Muhammad Afzal had bribed voters during the 2022 election campaign with packs of dates. Speaking of the council, they are yet to find a replacement for the person in charge of negotiating with striking bin workers (not that there’s any rush or anything) and elsewhere, Walsall’s canals are set to fully reopen following last year’s toxic chemical spill.
Read on for all the details.
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Catch up and coming up:
- Andy Hamilton is a jazz legend who is little known outside of musician circles. Read our weekend story to learn about his life, work and love of Brum.
- Politics moving too fast for you these days? We’ve got you. Check out Samuel’s round up of news from Friday, including an AWOL councillor and our West Mids politicians to watch. Did we miss anyone important? Let us know.
- Samuel is writing about Wing Yip, the Chinese supermarket chain founded in Birmingham. Fond memories of shopping for pak choi? There when the empire was built? Know something about the Chinese pagoda in Holloway Circus? Email Samuel at sam@birminghamdispatch.co.uk.
Photo of the week
Central Hall, King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls. Photo: Historic England. The Handsworth grammar school has recently been Grade II* listed by Historic England. The school was designed by local architect, P B Chatwin, and built between 1908-1911 in a late Jacobean style. Alumni include Hollywood actress Felicity Jones and Labour MP Zarah Sultana.
Brum in Brief
🗳️ The current chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, Muhammad Afzal, is facing calls for his removal from office — with 112 people signing a petition after Afzal was caught lying to an election court about gifts he gave to potential voters. The anonymous petition author complains that Afzal: “former Lord Mayor of Birmingham, has recently been stripped of his honorary alderman title after being found to have lied under oath to an election court. Despite clear evidence of dishonesty, and a judge’s condemnation of his actions, Muhammad Afzal remains in a powerful leadership position as Chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque.” The petitioner goes on to call for: “the immediate resignation of Muhammad Afzal as Chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque.” Afzal responded to a request for comment with the following: “The allegations you have cited are baseless and therefore fallacious. I reject them in their entirety. You clearly have been misinformed or misled."
Afzal has previously faced controversy over ‘dategate’ when he was accused of breaking electoral law by handing out gifts of dates to potential voters in his ward while campaigning to be reelected as a Labour councillor (for clarity, he was offering them small, sweet fruits, as opposed to fancy dinners at Tropea). Afzal is also a former Lord Mayor of Birmingham and honorary alderman. He was stripped of his honorary alderman title in April 2025 after it emerged he lied in court about the gifts, being caught on ring doorbell footage. Outside of ‘dategate’, Afzal’s actions have also caused consternation and drawn the attention of the press. In 2016, when Afzal first put his name in the hat for the Lord Mayor position a number of issues emerged including a recording where he called David Cameron an “Islamaphobe.” Additionally, the Muslim Women’s Network UK sent an open letter to Birmingham Central Mosque complaining about the “misogynistic attitudes of Mr. Muhammad Afzal” surrounding issues like forced marriage and domestic abuse. Despite these controversies, Afzal was nominated for the Lord Mayor’s position again in 2020, serving from 2021-2022.
🏴 A new political party has been formed in Dudley — The Black Country Party. It includes six former Labour councillors who currently make up the Dudley Independent Group. They launched the organisation last Friday to represent ‘working class interests’ in the area. The party’s current councillors are Karen Westwood, Steve Edwards, Matt Cook, Peter Drake, Karl Denning and Pete Lowe. Lowe will lead the group at Dudley Council, after resigning from the Labour Party in January over means testing of the Winter Fuel Allowance. “We have six working class councillors who have had enough of a failed party system which puts Westminster and personal ambition before people,” Lowe recently told the press.
✍️ One of Birmingham’s star professors has described writing by academics as a “con” that is “overly complicated”. Dr Kehinde Andrews, who lectures at Birmingham City University, made the comments during an interview at the Hay on Wye literary festival on Thursday, where he discussed his new book Nobody Can Give You Freedom, about American civil rights leader Malcolm X. Andrews said he recently read a book by a prominent scholar but “it didn’t make sense”. He added, “If my seven-year-old can’t have a basic understanding of what I’m saying, I’m saying it wrong.”
💼 Birmingham City Council is yet to find a new director of City Operations (that’s the main person in charge of negotiations with striking bin workers) despite the fact the dispute is ongoing. Outgoing senior staffer Craig Cooper’s departure was announced a month ago but The Dispatch understands the authority is still looking for a suitable replacement. As for Cooper, he hinted in a recent LinkedIn post that his next move might take him to much warmer climes and a role in the next-but-one Olympics: “As for the next chapter,” he wrote “let’s just say I’m looking forward, with one eye on Brisbane 2032.” Presumably Cooper doesn’t mean he’ll be throwing a javelin or bobsleighing through Brisbane, but will be involved in planning or running the event.
Quick Hits:
🏛️ The chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), Laura Shoaf, is stepping down from her role. On Friday, Shoaf sent an email to all staff (seen by The Dispatch) stating that “after much reflection” she has decided it is “time for me to move on” from the organisation.
🎨 An artist called Mr Murals who is painting Black Sabbath on a 120 ft long wall in the city centre has described how “crazy” the response from passersby has been. “I've probably done more chatting the last five days than I have all year,” he told the BBC.
🌊 The final stretch of Walsall canal that was closed due to a toxic chemical spill last summer will reopen next week. Read our report from August here.
📜 Confidential documents, including tax paperwork, have been flytipped by a rubbish removal company in Druids Heath.
🌈 Birmingham Pride is “returning to its roots” according to director Lawrence Barton as organisers search for a new location to hold the event. They are "working with the community,” Barton says, to create a smaller Pride for 2026.
Media picks
🍺 An American micro brewery has unexpectedly captured the hearts and minds of Walsall FC fans — and the attention of the New York Times. The story is as much about the rising trend of stateside investment in British football as it is about hops and barley — the owners of NoFo Brew Co, Bryan and Shannon Miles, have been stakeholders in Walsall FC since 2022. And they’ve brought their beer with them — the logo is on the team’s warm up jersey, plus NoFo is breaking into the UK market. As it happens, the Mileses have a deeper connection to footie in the West Mids than meets the eye. When he was a teenager in San Diego, Bryan was invited by Aston Villa to move to England and join on a ‘schoolboy contract'. Alas, his parents said no. Perhaps his interest in Walsall is a way of making up for lost time.
💰 Birmingham “is at the apex” of a rising trend in child poverty, writes Harry Clarke-Ezzidio in the New Statesman. Since 2008, Ladywood has been the constituency with the highest rate of child poverty in the country, indeed five out of ten of the most affected areas are in Birmingham. Speaking to a local third sector worker, Clarke-Ezzidio explores the knock on effects of living far below the breadline including food insecurity, decaying dental health, respiratory conditions, obesity and housing instability. “It’s become a way of life and a way of being,” says Alice Bath, operational manager at the Family Action charity.
Our to do list
🎙️ If you thought the recent Bob Dylan movie was a bit light on female performers, head to the Hare and Hounds tonight for a fun corrective — Peggy Seeger takes to the stage, celebrating her 90th birthday.
🎙️ Local singer-songwriter William William Rodgers is on at Pan-Pan on Wednesday, performing songs from his second album Pond Life, an ode to the countryside.
📚 There are two book events on Thursday to choose from: Stuart Maconie discusses his new non-fiction book about the Beatles, With a Little Help From Their Friends, at Waterstones. And Nathasha Brown is at Voce Books to unravel her latest novel, Universality.
🧺 The Artisan Bazaar on Saturday and Sunday is your chance to shop for hand-crafted goods and relax in the beautiful environs of a moated manor house in Warwickshire.
🍰 And if that’s not enough market for you, Harborne is showcasing 25 artists and makers at Moor Pool Hall on Sunday. Pick up some affordable art, a gift for Father’s Day and plenty of cake.
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