Dear readers — welcome to your briefing. Regular readers will recall Madeleine’s ill-fated attempt to fly to Dublin a few weekends ago, scuppered by a faulty plane and a very long wait on the tarmac at Birmingham Airport. Well, we are pleased to say that on Saturday just gone she bravely fought her way through crowds of holiday makers once again and stepped aboard for a second shot at a holiday in the emerald isle. Readers, she succeeded, and after a craic-filled weekend in Ireland’s capital has made it home in time for The Dispatch’s sold out hustings event tonight.
Those of you who will be joining us later, we look forward to meeting you and for those who missed out, do keep an eye out for upcoming events because they are being planned as we speak. On that note, if you have any suggestions for themes or particular speakers you’d like to hear from, drop us a note in the comments section. We read them all.
On with today’s edition. AWOL purveyor of barbequed meats, Andy Stubbs of Low n Slow, has been hauled over the Reddit coals due to delays in his plans for a Birmingham restaurant — one that crowdfunders put up £53k for. We’ve spoken to the man himself who recently announced a residency at a food hall in Hereford, much to the chagrin of his second city donors. That’s at the top of your Brum in Brief. Also today, could Birmingham get a tube? The local Conservatives have pledged to consider it but critics have been quick to comment, with one putting it simply: “this policy is silly.” Elsewhere, a man has been jailed for secretly recording people on the toilet, and Jude Bellingham has bought into a local cricketing franchise.
Catch up and coming up:
- On Saturday, Kate spoke to the young Conservatives hoping to turn Birmingham blue with a mix of casual-smart dressing, ironic humour, and pro-growth policies.
Kate Knowles
- Last Wednesday, two tribes went to war over the newly reopened Camp Hill line. Andy Street and Richard Parker have both taken responsibility for the project — but who is really to thank? “Ah, the baton relay that is transport! Everyone involved should get a piece of the ribbon,” wrote Martin Price, diplomatically.
- Last Tuesday, Ethan Perry spent a day inside Birmingham’s backlogged courts where there are currently a whopping 2,500 open cases. Adrian Goldberg commented: “important journalism — good work.”
Photo of the week
A snap from Birmingham and Sandwell’s Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan parade yesterday. Photo: @shuranjeetsingh/ Instagram
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Brum in Brief
🔥 Low n very, very slow: Andy Stubbs of the popular street food business Low n Slow has garnered quite a bit of hostility due to a crowdfund campaign gone awry. In 2018, the chef set up a Kickstarter to raise money to turn his BBQ stall — a Digbeth Dining Club regular — into a bricks and mortar restaurant, raising £53,577 from enthusiastic pledgers. In return, he offered a range of perks from a signed photo of a “taco expert” for £10, to tacos for life for £5,000. “I need my own restaurant,” wrote the passionate griller. “A restaurant the city will be proud of”. But when several years passed by and no such premises appeared, people started to ask questions, taking to regular Reddit threads to vent their unfiltered frustrations. “Blokes a fraud,” claimed one poster; “not a fraudster, just a common variety loser,” countered another. So what actually happened? In 2022, Stubbs gave a brief sign of hope when he announced he was stepping away from street food to fully focus on securing a premises. Alas, two years later, he had called it quits, telling Birmingham Live about the sleepless nights he had spent worrying over the business. But Stubbs recently made a triumphant return to the grilling game, announcing that Low n Slow is now a resident vendor at The Yard food hall in…Hereford. “That's really rubbing salt into the wound,” James Seconde, a fan who donated £150, told The Dispatch. Since Seconde spoke to The Dispatch, however, and we reached out to Stubbs for an interview, the chef has emailed all donors to make peace — conveniently the day before our chat, as it happens. Stubbs told us “I hold my hands up fully. I spiraled. I didn't deal with the situation,” explaining that all of the possible locations for the business (in Digbeth, on John Bright Street and in Moseley) fell apart because they weren’t suitable for his meat smoker. Then he ran into tax trouble, learning late in the day that 20% of the money donated would be taken by the tax man if he didn’t invest it in assets. Dutifully, he spent the Kickstarter funding on kitting out a prep kitchen in Old Hill rather than on a restaurant and meanwhile fell into a depression. “We had setback after setback; it kind of spiralled and snowballed,” he said. Seconde tells us he has been offered a “small intimate dinner” to make amends. “It's certainly a positive step in that it's doing something,” he said. “But it's also very noticeable that this has probably only happened because of things flaring up on the Reddit thread.”
🚇 Next stop on the Brumderground: Rivalry between Richard Parker and Andy Street over who delivered the final push for the reopening of the Camp Hill Line is now breaking out into competing local election pledges. Mayor Parker is focused on extending the tram to Birmingham FC's new stadium site and upgrades to stations serving Villa Park, with Birmingham Labour otherwise non-committal on new stations. The Lib Dems and local Greens support an additional station on the Camp Hill line serving Balsall Heath, and the Greens back reopening the Sutton Park line between Castle Bromwich and Walsall. The Conservatives are most ambitious, embracing both the projects and saying they will prioritise rail and metro schemes over Sprint buses (quick routes between Walsall, Solihull and Brum). Their headline pledge, however, is far more eyecatching than any of these. The Tories want to undertake a feasibility study on whether Birmingham could get an underground. That’s despite the fact that one was done, 20 years ago, by Conservative council leader Mike Whitby, that concluded that trams were the way forward, not a £2billion + subway network.
➡️ However, Transport Shadow Cabinet Member Tim Huxtable says that over the last two decades, the world and infrastructure techniques have moved on, much of the network could be above ground to minimise tunnelling, and that Birmingham needs a step change to boost its economy. But critics have been quick to skewer the proposal as attention-seeking, impractical and wasteful. “Birmingham can’t have an underground. This policy is silly,” geography lecturer Simon J Dixon posted to X. “Geographical, geological, and hydrological conditions are completely unsuitable,” he claimed. When all’s said and done, with little funding to tap into, and the region awaiting both an updated Local Transport Plan and the Rosewell Review on speeding up big infrastructure projects, even modest new transport plans might stay aspirational for a while yet.
Quick Hits
- A man has been jailed for secretly recording 465 people using the toilet. (BBC)
- A stabbing on Frankley Beeches Road in between Northfield and Longbridge on Friday night has left a man in his 20s with serious injuries. (Bromsgrove Standard)
- Nine men have been arrested for over 60 years after the ‘Smila line’ — used to deal crack cocaine and heroin in and around Lozells — was investigated. (West Midlands Police)
- Following the death of Asidu Chala on Mott Street last Monday, a man has been charged with murder. (Express and Star)
- Birmingham football star Jude Bellingham has bought a 1.2% holding in The Hundred Birmingham Phoenix cricketing franchise. “I feel like I owe the city something,” he said. (The Guardian).
- The police have launched an investigation after a hit and run killed a 44-year-old man on Sunday morning in Bartley Green. (Birmingham Live)
Media picks
🍟The Observer, contemplating the rise of actually good food at football stations has shouted out St Andrews’ @ Knighthead Park for their considered choices of cuisine. Gone, writes Rebecca Nicholson, are the “flaccid cone-of-chips days.” At the Blues’ home, instead, her brother-in-law secured himself a “beautiful heap of crunchy fried potatoes, drenched in a cauliflower curry and topped with a zingy pickle.” After this revelation, Nicholson and her family arrived three hours early to to eat their way around the stadium. Those worthy of shoutout include: “fat, generous chunks of deep-fried cheese” at Little Greek, pollock from Small Fry, and cauliflower nuggets from Only Jerkin’.
✍️ Last week marked 50 years since Birmingham playwright David Edgar’s Destiny first came to the stage. Destiny is set in the fictional West Midlands town of Taddley during a byelection and traces the rise of the far right against a backdrop of strikes by Asian workers at the foundry. David Edgar has published a reflection of the play on Substack, writing that he was inspired by watching the rise of the far right both locally and nationally. The Observer also published a reflection on the play, saying its “vision about the far right is becoming our reality.”
Our to do list
🖼️ History
Celebrate May Day on Saturday at Sarehole Mill in Hall Green. There’ll be food, upcycling activities, and, of course, Morris Dancers. Tickets are £8 for adults and can be purchased here. Or, head over to the University’s Alan Walters building on Thursday for a fascinating lecture on the ‘bad’ arts of Tudor and Stuart England. Tickets can be purchased here.
🎶 Music
On Thursday, head to the Symphony hall for two hours of the entire CBSO performing Classic FM’s hall of fame hits from John Williams’ Jurassic Park theme to The Nutcracker. Tickets begin at £26 and can be purchased here. Or, to celebrate International Jazz day (Thursday), spend your weekend lapping up some tunes. In the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham Jazz has an event at 1000 Trades on Friday, or, head to Samai Thai restaurant on Thursday for a full celebration from 4pm until late. Tickets here.
📚Books
On Thursday, there’s a free event at the University of Birmingham with Professor Dan Hicks discussing his book Every monument will fall. In it, he traces the connection between statues commemorating colonisers and how human remains are treated in museums and universities. It’s completely free, but reserve your spot here. Also on Saturday, there’s a ‘Book Extravaganza’ hosted by Rosie’s Retro Baazar at the Uffculme Centre. Find rare books from independent publishers, unique prints, and second-hand, antique classics. Entry is £2 and tickets can be purchased here.
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