Dear readers — I like to think we publish a variety of stories here at The Dispatch, some of which venture into territory our readers might not be so familiar with (see: Alex Taylor’s foray into the world of Walsall swingers). But even we were surprised to learn our humble paper had been mistaken for pornography.
That’s right, it seems that Birmingham City Council’s IT system mistakenly categorised this newsletter as the bluest of blue material… full details of that in today’s Brum in Brief. Also today, we have updates on the fate of the Methodist Central Hall and the campaign to rebuild the Crooked House pub as well as a further tumultuous turn in the Coventry City of Culture saga.
But before all that, it behoves us to say that spring, the season of new beginnings, is upon us. For The Dispatch, that means a big and exciting change. Some of you will know that our newsletter is currently hosted on a platform called Substack. We will be moving off Substack and onto our own website tomorrow. It’s a site that is befitting of a truly quality outlet and we hope you’ll all agree. As such, now is a better time than ever to join us as a paying subscriber — you’ll be able to access all of our reporting in its flash new format.
Important: If you currently read us in the Substack app, you will no longer be able to. Instead, you need to put your e-mail in below (just select the free option, we’ll know if you are a paying member) then we will have you on our e-mail list and you won’t lose touch with us.
If you currently read us in your inbox, you don’t need to do anything. You should continue to receive emails from us as per usual. However, if by the end of the week, you haven’t been receiving our stories, please contact info@millmediaco.uk and our tech team will be able to sort you out. Our web address will remain the same: www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk
We’ll send a brief e-mail tomorrow to let you know once the new site is live — we think you’ll love it.
Okay, that’s all the housekeeping out of the way. But before we get on with Monday’s briefing here’s a quick round-up of recent and upcoming stories on The Dispatch.
- Samuel caught up with the cultural critic Jonathan Meades to find out if his view of the West Midlands has changed since he created the iconic documentary, Birmingham Heart By-pass.
- Have you ever played the Atherstone Ball Game? Plan on playing this year? Get in contact at sam@birminghamdispatch.co.uk or jack@millmedia.co.uk.
- Have you ever worked for the long-running city centre music venue Forum? Kate would like to hear from you. Please get in touch at kate@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
Weather
☀️Tuesday: Sun’s out, guns out (ok, maybe not quite yet). Max 11°C.
🌤️Wednesday: Sun’s out but so is the cloud, at times. Max 13°C.
🌤️Thursday: Sunny day, cloudy evening. Max 16°C.
☁️ Friday: A grey day. Max 13°C.
🌥️Weekend: Some sun, some cloud. Max 14°C.
We get our weather from the Met Office.
Photo of the week
Birmingham, March 2002, Crufts, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, (Tom Stoddart, Hulton Archive, Getty Images). Crufts starts this Thursday the 6th of March. The world-famous dog show moved from London to Birmingham in 1991 and has made its home at the NEC for 34 years this week. Get your tickets here.
Brum in Brief
🗑️ Striking Birmingham bin workers will protest the “zombie” Birmingham City Council outside its budget meeting tomorrow. It’s a turn of phrase that conjures up images of councillors lurching through the corridors of the Council House, arms outstretched searching for opposition members' flesh to feast on, but the refuse collectors’ target is Max Caller and the commissioners. Unite the Union recently escalated its dispute with the authority, complaining that it is "controlled by unelected commissioners who are slashing services and attacking jobs." Regional organiser Zoe Mayhou told The Dispatch that the commissioners are stalling progress in their negotiations around the council’s plans to scrap Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) roles. Unite claims the axing of the post would leave 150 workers up to £8,000 worse off each year and without a fair path for pay progression. A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said that only a small number of workers will have their wages impacted by the move and that they have been offered alternatives.
⛪ One of Brum’s most beautiful (and ill-fated) buildings, the Methodist Central Hall, has officially gone up for sale. Three years ago, hospitality tycoon Paddy McKillen promised to turn the Grade II-listed building into a 155-bed hotel, complete with eight bars, a ballroom and a panoramic-view rooftop restaurant (it currently has none of those things, although it does now have a giant hole in the roof so you can at least peer into where the panoramic restaurant would have been). A recent Dispatch investigation found that McKillen Junior’s firm had fallen on hard times and he was scrambling to find the cash to pay back the man who funded his purchase of the hall. That man, Tony O’Shea, was less than pleased when he visited Birmingham last autumn and found the hall in a desperate state, prompting him to WhatsApp McKillen to tell him it was “completely unacceptable.” McKillen seems to have gotten rather desperate, responding: “I am doing everything to try and sort this urgently. I would plead with you not to force a sale with the receiver because it will really affect the value.” With this latest news that the building is back on the market, it looks like O’Shea may have got his way…
🔞 The Dispatch was surprised to learn recently that our website was blocked on the City Council’s computer network because it was categorised as unsavoury material. This news came to our attention via independent councillor Martin Brookes who made a request with the IT department to unleash The Dispatch from its digital prison so that members can access our writing. However, the technicians seem to have misunderstood: instead of unblocking the site for all to see, they simply changed councillor Brookes’s personal settings so that he could access pornography, causing a few raised eyebrows, not in the least from Brookes who merely wanted to recommend a few of our latest stories (so he insists). We understand the error has been corrected.
⚖️ Four Brummies have been cleared of charges brought after they chained themselves to a fence and/or each other in protest of an arms fair in Telford. The Specialist Defence & Security Convention UK (SDSC-UK) took place in January and has been held at the Telford International Centre for the last two years after it was moved from Malvern Show Ground following pressure from local people.
🗳️ A Labour councillor accused of bullying his former colleague has breached the authority’s code of conduct with a "pattern of behaviour which failed to treat [a fellow councillor] with respect." Councillor Saqib Khan will face sanctions for his behaviour towards Lib-Dem councillor Shabina Bano who represents the same ward as him in Small Heath and who defected from Labour last year. Bano has accused four of her former colleagues of bullying and harassment since her election to the council in 2022. Speaking to The Dispatch after the hearing, Councillor Bano said she “burst into tears” when the verdict was delivered.
Quick hits
🏚️ Campaigners have met with the MP for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire Mike Wood, calling for the rapid rebuilding of the Crooked House pub. “The purpose of today's meeting is to start prompting people with a big and sharp stick,” said campaigner Ian Sandall.
🚒 A case of harassment against West Midlands Fire Service training instructor Benjamin Walker, who was accused of ‘harassing’ former fire chief Wayne Brown, has been dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service. The Dispatch has previously covered Brown’s scandalous and tragic tenure as the West Midlands fire chief.
🎸 A 2024 Gibson SG signed by Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Black, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Billy Idol has been sold at a charity dinner in aid of Acorn’s Children’s Hospice for £15,000.
📺The UK Charity Commission has found misconduct at a West Midlands-based Sikh TV station. The Sikh Channel Community Broadcasting Company failed to declare a conflict of interest — it was revealed that all the trustees were related to the chief executive who was transferring money from the charity to companies he privately owned.
📉 £4.2 million is owed by Coventry’s City of Culture Trust. An administrator for the bankrupt trust has told the public that creditors including Coventry City Council, West Midlands Police, The Albany Theatre and Coventry University will not be paid back.
🗳️ Dudley councillor, Andrew Tromans, who left Labour in September 2024 has announced he’ll now be sitting as a Liberal Democrat. Tromans cited Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s “austerity measures” as his reason for resigning from the Labour Party.
Media picks
📰 One of Britain’s youngest billionaires, Gymshark founder Ben Francis, has been profiled by the New York Post as he opens a sportswear outlet in Manhattan. Francis grew up in the West Midlands, attending South Bromsgrove High School and Aston University. Gymshark hit a billion-dollar valuation in 2020 when private equity firm General Atlantic bought a stake in the company. Francis is one of only a few individuals on Forbes’s young billionaire list not to have inherited his fortune: and he is often profiled as a West Midland’s success story. Increasingly, however, many in the gym and fitness community do not see it this way — with various YouTubers complaining about irresponsible ‘influencer marketing’ and ‘poor quality clothing.’
📰 Does the politics magazine Prospect have a soothsayer on staff? Back in 2014, the publication predicted Birmingham City Council would go bankrupt in an interview with the then Edgbaston MP Gisela Stuart. Prospect cited a financial threat going back before the “2008 crisis,” with Stuart telling the magazine that “a group of former female employees” were “launch[ing] legal proceedings claiming that they had been paid less than their male colleagues.” Stuart estimated the cost at “£1 billion.” Indeed, the budget cuts expected to be voted in tomorrow are grim. Don’t say Prospect didn’t warn ya…
🖊️ Resident Birmingham topographic, architectural and cultural expert Jon Neale has started a new blog called ‘Most of this country has never been seen.’ His first post discusses the North/South (and Midlands) divide around dense, inner-city, living. Neale contends that much of England, outside London, is in “love [with] the suburbs.”
Home of the week
This two-bedroom flat and office duplex is available for £500,000 — we reckon it's the kind of place Patrick Bateman from American Psycho would buy on secondment in the Midlands, if that’s your kind of thing…
Our to do list
🎷 Squid, the instrumental jazz band from Brighton will play XOYO on Tuesday from 7 pm. Expect folk, psychedelia and even a touch of comedy. Tickets £25.95.
🎤 Local poet Vig Venkataramaiah will host this Birmingham edition of open mic night Poet’s Palace on Wednesday. There are eight spots if you want to perform. Tickets from £6.13.
🎻 Welcome spring in on Wednesday with Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Mahler’s Song of the Earth with the CBSO. Tickets from £26.
☕ On Thursday, knock back an espresso and head to the Utilita Arena to catch record-breaking pop phenomenon Sabrina Carpenter. Tickets from £60.90.
🪩 Final release tickets for stalwart Brummie club night House of God are on sale now for Friday’s 32nd birthday party. Get one for £27.75.
Comments