'City-halting' strike on table after Council job cuts announcement
Plus: will it snow in Birmingham later today?
Hello readers. Welcome to your Friday briefing.
A slight change to proceedings for today. This edition of the Dispatch is not coming from the desk of the one-woman-journalism machine that is the brilliant Kate Knowles. Instead, it’s being sent out by myself: the lesser-spotted Dan Cave. I’ve previously written about Birmingham’s literary scene for The Dispatch: you can read about that here. But this week I’ve been largely spitballing ways to keep warm as I work. Any suggestions?
The reason Kate is not in situ today is that she is following up on leads for a future Dispatch-exclusive investigation. More to follow on that. Rest assured your usual, wonderful, editor will be taking back the reins from tomorrow. For my own anxiety levels — phew.
On The Dispatch community front: there are now 268 of us with paid memberships — myself included! — which is incredible faith in both the paper and high-quality journalism. Especially so given it's the time of year that many of us are feeling the post-Christmas wallet pinch.
I know Kate aims to grow this intrepid, early-adopting group — I’m patting myself on the back here, I hope you are as well — to 300 by the end of January. As I’m sure you don’t need me to lay out, these subscriptions will fund more great journalism, more great writing, and more top-drawer insight and analysis into Birmingham and just beyond. You’ve all been helping push towards that goal by sharing The Dispatch’s site in Facebook groups and on other social media. On behalf of Kate: thank you. Let’s continue to help her nudge it over that magical 300 mark by month end.
Brum in Brief
💰 ‘City-halting’ council woe: After Birmingham City Council set out plans to cut 600 jobs — in attempts to save £300m over the next two years to settle a £760m equal pay bill — GMB Union said “robust” discussions with municipal leaders have made a ‘city-halting’ strike more likely. GMB is the Council’s largest staff union and is currently balloting members over strike action after layoff intentions were announced on Tuesday, via an email from the authority’s chief executive Deborah Cadman.
🚄 High-speed rail slowly rumbles on: Land previously earmarked for the scrapped northern leg of HS2 is now open for planning applications. Yesterday, Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced that restrictions on development for areas previously set aside for the Birmingham-Crewe leg would be lifted. It follows Rishi Sunak’s October 2023 announcement that Phase 2a of the high-speed rail project — from the West Midlands to Manchester — would be canned.
🚘 In car-related HS2 news: temporary overnight closures on the M42 and M6 will be in place from Wednesday 24 January to Friday 2 February each weekday night between 9pm and 5am as workers install viaducts for the London-Birmingham segment. Full closure details at Birmingham Live.
🚨 ‘Retribution’ nightclub killing: A local footballer who was stabbed to death in a Digbeth nightclub on Boxing Day in 2022 was killed in an alleged act of retribution, the prosecution has said. Cody Fisher, died at the scene at the still-closed Crane nightclub, after being stabbed in the chest. This was after an apparent altercation which occurred two days previously in Solihull’s Popworld. Fisher played for Stratford Town, Stourbridge FC and Bromsgrove Sporting. Three defendants deny murder and affray. Read more about this horrifying trial here.
⛄ Snow joke: With the UK being blasted with frigid Arctic air over the past working week — the result of being right in the firing line of a shifting polar jet stream — some Brummies might be asking: will the West Midlands get any snow? According to Met Office boffins, if you’re in Shropshire/Staffordshire you might get a few flurries later in the day. For the rest of us, it will be a continuation of this dry, sunny, cold patch. For those of you, like myself, who have been enjoying this week’s wintry dose of Vitamin D, the sunshine will be coming to an end. The weekend will bring clouds, gusts and rain.
🎭 Next week, Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre hosts Frantic Assembly’s and Lemn Sissay OBE’s adaption of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. For those au fait with Kafka’s work, the production promises to update this tale of cruelty and kindness with new fluidity and lyricism. Last year, I caught a tear-jerking dramatic retelling of Nobel Prize-winning Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead at Belgrade and will personally vouch for their programming. If that’s not enough to convince you, the history of how the theatre got its name acts as a wonderful homage to cross-border co-operation and is well worth looking at. Book tickets here.
🖼️ On Thursday 25 January The New Art Gallery Walsall previews an exhibition by Sophia-Layla Afsar and Alex Billingham which connects queer artistic practices in the UK and Pakistan. Previously presenting work in Karachi, the ongoing show will host work exploring how genderqueerness, trans and disabled identities collide, and the importance of psychological safety in creative expression. Further info here.
Our cover photo for today’s issue is by Elliot Brown.