Dear readers — Spring is springing. It’s a time for hope, optimism and…erm…terrifying headlines about deadly diseases. If you’re Reach PLC, that is, the company behind Birmingham Live that is known for this particular brand of clickbait. At the weekend, the local paper took a publicly funded article about a major health crisis and gave it their own, scary spin. More on that in your Brum in Brief, alongside the latest in Birmingham's bin wars and the news that Britain's love of jacket spuds (including a certain celebrity seller from Tamworth) has reached the states.
Catch up and coming up
- Last Thursday we hosted our Mill Media sister title colleagues from all across the country at Dispatch HQ in the Jewellery Quarter. We had a day of meetings in our gorgeous office at The Wilmot (which has office space available! Come join us), followed by pints at The Button Factory, and an Ethiopian feast at Blue Nile.
- On Saturday we published Alex Taylor’s fascinating deep-dive into a leading industry in Birmingham: sausages. Alex met with Darren Lashford, the fifth-generation heir to a sausage dynasty that’s fed royals and prime ministers, for insight into the future of the business, which might lie in a surprising location: Dubai.
- Are you a journalist looking for a new challenge? We're launching a sister newspaper in Leeds. If you've got three years of experience and want to be part of creating something brand new, then apply here.
Photo of the week
Photographer Mourad A Medkour got this snap at Small Heath Park over the weekend. These two young guys had been playing cricket with their families during Eid celebrations, but took a quick photo break.
Brum in Brief
🗞️Scared about the recent meningitis outbreak in Kent? So were we, especially after reading a headline on Birmingham Live yesterday about a “Birmingham student unable to walk, talk or see after catching meningitis”. But all is not as it seems.
The article appeared on the paper’s digital front page after round-the-clock coverage of the outbreak down south, which has been treated as a national incident and seen two students die from the disease. So imagine our horror when Live’s reporting seemed to confirm a spread to the West Midlands. But clicking through, worry was replaced by confusion. The piece concerns a former student, Samantha Field, who became sick when she was studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire — in 2022. That’s four years ago. A bit of research reveals Birmingham Live appears to have cherrypicked quotes from a BBC interview with Field last Tuesday, given it a new headline and then paywalled it. Voila! An old, unrelated news story gets new life — and brings in more money — by playing into people’s health fears. Great stuff. We weren't the only ones concerned: over on X, poster Michael Lloyd described the headline as "spreading worry for a few more clicks".
🗑️ The latest in Birmingham’s bin wars: Unite have been slapped with a hefty £265,000 fine by the High Court for members repeatedly breaking a 2025 court order that banned striking workers from blocking rubbish trucks. Judge Mrs Justice Jefford found that the union was responsible for blockading tactics from March 2025, including “slow walking”, that contributed to the accumulation of 22,000 tonnes of uncollected rubbish in Birmingham. The ruling marks the end of contempt proceedings filed by the city council last October and they’ve emerged with a favourable settlement — as well as the fine, Unite has been charged a £170,000 interim payment to cover the council’s legal costs, with both levies to be paid within 14 days. While Unite admitted they’d broken the court order and “apologised unreservedly”, the union’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, took a more bullish approach, calling the case: “yet another pathetic attempt to intimidate workers”. As for the fine, she said: “Every single penny will come out of Labour’s affiliation fee. So, Labour will be paying for this one and any others that come our way.”
➡️ The council, meanwhile, seem satisfied. Cllr Majid Mahmood said the council are “pleased” with the court proceedings and they hope the fines “will send a clear message about what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.” (The Guardian, Unite, and BCC)
🚨 Four teenagers, aged between 14 and 16, have been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder after a fight broke out in Victoria Square on Saturday afternoon, following a planned demonstration by pro-Iranian monarchy protestors supporting the war in Iran. A zombie knife was also recovered at the scene. Video circulating online appears to show a masked and hooded individual holding a large knife, squaring up to another masked person, before turning and running away. The individual is then seen being tripped and set upon by pursuers. A security guard is later filmed holding what appears to be a knife (see pictured) and asking: “who are these people?” It is not yet clear if those detained were participating in the demo or not.
Quick Hits
- Lost your hearse? One has been abandoned, reportedly tax and MOT free, on Cherrywood Road in Bordesley Green. (Twitter).
- 30,000 Muslims gathered in Small Heath Park on Friday for one of Europe’s largest Eid celebrations. (Express and Star)
- A man has been arrested for running a brothel in Nechells. (Dudley News)
- A Grade II listed building on Hockley Hill in the Jewellery Quarter is set to be demolished and turned into flats — despite concerns about the area’s character being “chipped away”. (Express and Star).
- The Birmingham REP has announced its Autumn season. (Read here)
Media picks
📰 Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight takes Observer reporter Tim Adams for a walkabout from Birmingham City FC to his new fiefdom, the Digbeth Loc film studio. Settled in the stands of his beloved football club, Knight says he’s never stuck for ideas when writing about his city — which he believes has a bright future, thanks to HS2. I don’t think people have quite cottoned on,” he observes. “Essentially, timewise, we’re going to be in zone five of the London Underground. Knight also pushes back against the Birmingham trait for self-deprecation. ‘Brummies have always been quite self-effacing,” he adds. “Always taking the piss out of ourselves. But there comes a point when you’ve got to stand up.” Read the full interview now. (The Observer)
📰 “What are jacket potatoes and why are the English waiting hours for them?” a headline in The New York Times beseeched on Friday. The article, by London-based journo Jimi Famurewa, dutifully demystified the dish for a puzzled American audience. The “jacket”, he writes, “denote[s] the presence of a crisp-roasted, unpeeled skin” wrapped around a spud that can be drenched in all manner of “peculiarly British toppings”. The reason for this forensic analysis of an age-old dish? Hype, of course. The humble jacket potato has had a rebrand and achieved global fame thanks to social media food influencers. Tamworth’s own viral Spudman — the “pink-mohawked” Ben Newman — is one such seller interviewed by the NYT. “Walk down my queue and every other customer is an international customer,” he said.
Our to do list
🖼️ Art & Poetry
Piece of Work, a poetry and open mic night featuring local star Casey Bailey, takes place at BMAG on Thursday. Grab a glass of wine and swirl it with a mysterious and knowledgeable air while wandering the galleries before the show. Tickets £12.
🎞️ Film & music
Or, spend your Thursday evening in Deritend at Eastside Projects, for art film event Solar Rites. The programme "contemplates utopian possibilities through connections between myth, spirituality, and contemporary worlds". Tickets are free. Over at The Night Owl, they're paying homage to the “high priestess of art-pop” on Sunday — that’s Kate Bush, for the uninitiated. Expect curated anthems and a live tribute from Cake Boi and guests. Tickets £11.55.
🍹 Festivals
Ever had pizza, done a bit of woodwork then finished the day off with some martial arts? Now you can, at Allens Cross Community day festival on Sunday. Free tickets here. From next Monday, get your tickets for the 20th Flatpack Film Festival which includes a documentary about the claim that Charlie Chaplin was a Roma boy born in Smethwick's Black Patch Park.
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