Dear readers — welcome to your Monday Briefing. Kate is back, having officially tied the knot with her husband at a small ceremony in Sandwell last Thursday. Thanks to all the people who sent her well-wishes, she appreciated every last one.
In her absence, a lot has gone down. Just as Kate was celebrating her marriage, a confrontation broke out between patriot group Raise the Colours (RtC) and Stirchley locals who reject their flags clogging up the lampposts. In the fray, a woman was punched and a man had his leg crushed by a van. He remains in hospital while RtC’s leader, Ryan Bridge, enjoyed a visit to London on Saturday for Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally. According to RtC’s Instagram page he was promptly arrested by the Met police. That’s today’s Big Story.
Elsewhere, similar to scenes that have played out across Europe recently, a 'watch-drop' caused havoc in the city centre over the weekend. Tons of shoppers camped overnight and queued for hours to get their hands on a new Swatch watch.
And in other news, Aaron Rai, a competitor from Wolverhampton has been crowned the surprise winner of world golfing contest, the US PGA Championship. It’s the first time a Brit has taken home the cup in 107 years and Rai has shot from number 44 to 15 in the official world rankings. Read on for more in your Brum in Brief.
Catch up and coming up:
- On Saturday, we published the third and most explosive part of Kate’s exclusive investigation linking Shabana Mahmood to an infamous vote-rigging scandal. A transcript of the trial that found “widespread fraud” in the 2004 Birmingham city council election proves the home secretary gave evidence in support of her father, Mahmood Ahmed – the election agent for three Labour councillors who were disqualified for corruption. This directly contradicts what her spokesperson previously told The Dispatch. "She did not give oral evidence, did not provide a witness statement, and was not called or asked to participate in any capacity,” we were originally told when we asked why Mahmood’s ballot papers were examined by the court. The judge, Richard Mawrey KC, also told us that a statement given by Mahmood to The Dispatch and the Daily Mail about her involvement in the trial “appears to bear no relation to reality as I recall it."
Kate Knowles
- Last Wednesday, Madeleine wrote all about the weird and wonderful folklore of the West Midlands, telling tales of ghosts, pig men, and UFOs. “This is so wonderfully written. A joy to read!” commented one member.
Madeleine Rousell
Photo of the week
Big Story: Stirchley ‘under siege’: will Raise the Colours be banned?
Topline: A second man has been arrested on suspicion of wounding after a pedestrian was hit by a van in Stirchley on Thursday night. The injured man, in his 30s, is in hospital following surgery on his leg which was broken in the collision.
Context: The collision happened after patriot group Raise the Colours confronted locals who were taking down their recently raised British flags on the corner of Mayfield Road and Pershore Road at around 10pm on Thursday. A 44-year-old man and a 52-year-old man were both arrested in connection with the incident on Saturday.
What happened on Thursday night? Mobile phone footage published by Birmingham Live on Friday shows two men in RtC branded hoodies, with their faces covered, walking up to locals and grabbing their face masks and punching out at them. Three witnesses told the Guardian that men wearing jumpers with the RtC logo were allegedly “really aggressive” and “seemed like they were really wanting to fight”.
One woman said she was “punched” by a man in an RtC hoodie which was corroborated by footage shared with the paper. She said that, at first, the group didn’t realise the injured man had been struck:
“He’d been too scared to call out because he’d been hit and then the van, the cherry-picker, had driven off and he hadn’t wanted to call out in case they’d come back,” she told the Guardian.
Clapback: However, RtC leader Ryan Bridge (who The Dispatch has reported on here) took to BBC Midlands Today to shout down the criticism. “I’m just really upset that people do not want to join us in making this a family-based community thing”, he said, adding that removing the flags was “an act of treason”.
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