'I don't want this job' says Green candidate for mayor

Plus: Remembering Tavern in the Town

Good morning Patchers — welcome to your Thursday briefing.

Today we have a round-up of the best moments from Tuesday’s mayoral hustings, hosted by the Moseley and Kings Heath neighbourhood forums. All six candidates were billed to appear but independent Akhmed Yakoob, a lawyer who is known for his TikTok videos, was a no-show. There’s also more on politics at Birmingham City Council where Conservative Councillor Rick Payne has stepped down after being exposed for expressing extremist views online.

Elsewhere, we have beer-related news with the JQ Beer Weekend just over a week away and an arts project is set to remember a legendary Wolverhampton pub. Plus, National Geographic has a big feature all about Birmingham that’s available to buy now. Enjoy!

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Brum in brief

🥊The gloves are off: Five mayoral candidates battled it out on Tuesday night at an energetic and well-attended hustings in Kings Heath, setting the tone for what is tipped to be the most exciting race of next month’s local elections. The Dispatch went along to the event which was jointly hosted by the Moseley and Kings Heath neighbourhood forums. Here are the best bits:

• Street vs Parker bus bust up: Andy Street scolded Richard Parker for interrupting him mid-flow as he alleged Greater Manchester Combined Authority has had to spend vast amounts of money to bring the buses under public control. Parker (who is pro-public buses) shouted out that the figures were “not comparable” with the West Midlands. Street reminded Parker not to butt in, to which Parker responded: “I will when you’re wrong.”

• Comic relief: Sunny Virk had arguably the hardest task — the Lib Dem solicitor had just travelled in from somewhere 5,000 miles away and evidently was suffering from jet lag. In his opening statement he veered wildly from homelessness to Brexit to HS2 and repeatedly complained that the high speed rail project had been “over-engineered”. At around about the third mention, an audience member shouted: “Are you an engineer?” To which Virk responded, to a puzzled audience: “No, but I can tell you some facts.”

• Eco wars: Green Party candidate Siobhan Harper-Nunes had the crowd in the palm of her hand by the closing remarks. The charity consultant and vice-chair of Birmingham Race Impact Group (BRIG) got the biggest clap at the end for declaring that as a woman in the running, she had “already won” simply by being there. She said “I don’t want this job” but that women know to stand up when things are “wrong”. There was actually another woman on the panel, Reform UK’s Elaine Williams. Williams described herself as an “ordinary person” but it’s fair to say it wasn’t quite the right crowd for her. When she was introduced with her aim to roll back the “net zero agenda”, a man behind your correspondent audibly whispered: “Oh f*** off.”

🍻Wolves watering hole: The famous Wolverhampton pub the Tavern in the Town will be celebrated in a new arts project. The Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists collective secured £10,000 to create a newspaper, website and exhibition about the watering hole that was loved by rockers and bikers and known for its jukebox of abundant tunes. The project is led by Emma Purshouse who wanted to create a permanent record of the pub that was open from the 19th Century right up until 1987. Purshouse heard stories “told from people who remember going in there and the friendships they've made” as a result.

🖐️Tory racism row: Disgraced Conservative Birmingham City Councillor Rick Payne has resigned following a racism scandal. The member for Kingstanding was discovered to have an anonymous Twitter account from which he had been posting Islamaphobic and racist messages. The material, which was exposed on Tuesday by anti-racism campaigners Hope Not Hate and BirminghamLive, included calling Muslims “pigs” and “disgusting inbred filth”. He also called for a “civil uprising” of White British people. Councillor Payne, a former soldier, told BirminghamLive he had been suffering with mental health issues and at times was not aware of what he had tweeted. He said: “I am deeply sorry for anything offensive on the account and I have therefore deleted the account.”

📰Brum in the big pages: The latest issue of National Geographic has a seven page spread entirely about Birmingham culture by local freelance writer Richard Franks. You’ll have to support well-produced journalism and pay to read the issue online or in shops but if Franks’ other work is anything to go by, it will be well worth it.

🍻Here for beer: The Jewellery Quarter’s Beer Weekend pitches up across 24 venues the weekend after next. The event was a rip-roaring success last year and there’s a great write up of what to expect this time around in I Choose Birmingham. Pick up a drink from six venues, including softs, collect a sticker with each and exchange them for a free t-shirt at the end. Lovely stuff.

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