'City could not live with Villa’s intensity'
'City could not live with Villa’s intensity'
Plus: Andy Street's request for policing powers granted
Good morning readers — welcome to Thursday’s Dispatch.
Our round-up of recent news today leads on Villa’s glorious win against Man City. Plus, commentary on the Resolution Foundation’s report on a “new economic strategy for Britain”. You can read the report and watch a recording of a Q+A, including an interview with Jeremy Hunt, here.
Before that, a growth update: we have gone up from 4,763 subscribers yesterday to 4,811 so getting very near to the 5,000 mark. Thanks for all your sharing. And special thanks to this reader for pledging to pay for our journalism and for this simple but effective message:
Brum in Brief
☔ Heavy rain and a moderate breeze.
⚽ Aston Villa beat Manchester City last night 1-0. The result is the latest high for Villa in their complete turnaround in form led by Unai Emery, appointed a year ago when the club was languishing just above the relegation zone. The ex-Arsenal boss oversaw a comprehensive display against last season’s treble winners. Villa now sit third, one place above Manchester City, in the table. The Guardian reports: “Put simply, City could not live with Villa’s intensity, insatiable press or downright gumption.”
💸 West Midlands native David Smith wrote in The Times about reversing the “brain drain” to London, in response to Monday’s Resolution Foundation report on “ending stagnation” in Britian, which had a key focus on Birmingham and Manchester. “It may be that these two large regional cities, and others, can evolve a different model for becoming highly productive growth centres than simply becoming ‘mini Londons’.”
👮 Andy Street has announced his bid for policing powers has been successful. The home secretary has agreed the elected West Midlands mayor can take on the police and crime commissioner role from May.
💸 Birmingham City Council needs to find £300 million worth of savings by 7 January. The BBC reports: “In a report to the council’s cabinet, the commissioners say it will not be possible to fully address the council’s budget gap in 2024-25, because of a ‘lack of any early budget work’ and there needs to be a ‘step change in the level of organisational focus and grip’.”
☀️ InterClimate Network hosted a mock COP conference for Birmingham secondary schools in partnership with Birmingham City Council in the Council Chamber yesterday. Teams from eleven schools from across the city took the part of national delegations engaging in negotiations on targets for more ambitious climate action by 2030.
🚨 A waste company and a manager have been found guilty of manslaughter after a worker fell into an industrial shredder in Wolverhampton, ITV Central reports. “As the verdicts were returned on Wednesday, there were sobs and gasps from the public gallery.”
🚂 A steam train enthusiast from Hereford, who films Thomas the Tank Engine content for YouTube, has won £1 million in the National Lottery. The BBC reports Neil Leighton said: "Ever since my grandad took me to see my first steam train when I was three, I have been fascinated. It started with Thomas the Tank Engine and to be honest, I never grew out of it.”
🦉 Tickets are selling out for this Owls by Candlelight event at the Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens on Friday evening. Approx. £26. 5-7.30 pm.
📽️ Palme d’Or winning French drama Anatomy of a Fall is showing at the MAC this afternoon at 2pm. Tickets £10.50.
Our cover photo is by bettyloulou70.
"☔ Heavy rain and a moderate breeze"
Thank you, that turned out to be a pretty accurate summing up of today's weather forecast!
Other 'local news sites' are still pumping out stories about school closures because of snow and more warnings of "xxx miles of snow/rain", along with the Met Office 'breaking silence' every ten minutes.
In my opinion, weather forecasts are just that, a forecast or 'prediction'. No-one can truly say what the weather will be like tomorrow, let alone in a week, or months away, its that changeable.
You wanted recommendations, I tend to go with the forecasts provided by the Weather Channel (weather.com), they tend to be fairly accurate and are usually spot-on, certainly for the next few hours at least!