![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6994ee80dda7b.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said Labour is \u2018backing Birmingham\u2019 after the city was beset by high-profile woes such as a bins strike and financial strife.\n <\/p>\n
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who recently visited the West Midlands, insisted that the government was investing in Brum and praised \u201cincredibly exciting\u201d plans to improve transport in the city.<\/p>\n
Rachel Reeves\u2019 remarks come weeks before an all-out election is held at Labour-run Birmingham City Council in May.<\/p>\n
All 101 council seats across Brum are up for grabs \u2013 this means the election will decide who represents your area and which party runs the council during the next four years at least.<\/p>\n
It will follow a turbulent period for the council, which has faced the fallout from a financial crisis and an ongoing bins strike in recent times.<\/p>\n
Birmingham Labour will face the usual opposition from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Green Party, as well as independent candidates, Reform UK and a number of smaller parties.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Labour can convince voters in the city despite the recent turmoil, Rachel Reeves said: \u201cBirmingham City Council is now out of bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is because of the hard work and perseverance of the Labour team in Birmingham \u2013 and also being able to work with a Labour government that\u2019s introduced a fair funding formula to ensure [the council] gets the money it needs to deliver services.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think Birmingham City Council has turned a corner.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the bins strike, Rachel Reeves acknowledged it was having a \u201cdamaging impact\u201d on Birmingham\u2019s reputation and described it as a \u201creal nightmare\u201d for residents.<\/p>\n
But she urged Unite the union to \u201ccall off\u201d the strike, adding the \u201cball is in their court\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Birmingham could recover from its reputation being harmed, the Chancellor continued: \u00a0\u201cThis government is backing Birmingham with new investment, working with Tom Wagner [the owner of Birmingham City FC] to build a new stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also investing in the young people in that area with youth activities and more clubs, which is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued: \u201cWe\u2019re going to extend the tram to Solihull and to that part of Birmingham.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s incredibly exciting and it\u2019s only possible because of the decisions we\u2019ve made to invest outside of London and the South East in our city-regions, including in Birmingham.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went on to say that the government was working with Labour West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker to ensure investment \u201creally benefits\u201d people in Birmingham and the wider region.<\/p>\n
The Chancellor added that the government was investing in Birmingham in a number of ways, including new transport infrastructure; free breakfast clubs in primary schools; lower energy bills; by freezing prescription charges and rail fares; and continuing the bus fare cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of those things over the next few months are going to put more money in the pockets of working people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rachel Taylor, the Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, also praised the work of Mayor Richard Parker during the visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are on the up for the whole of our region,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s better transport, investment into social housing and rebuilding Birmingham.<\/p>\n
\u201cBirmingham is a fantastic city with a great nightlife, theatres and places to go out and eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Deep-rooted problems\u2019<\/p>\n
It was Birmingham specific-issues, such as the equal pay debacle and the disastrous implementation of an IT system, that contributed to the financial woes which engulfed the council.<\/p>\n
Labour councillors have also pointed the finger at funding cuts during the previous Conservative government.<\/p>\n
What followed the council becoming effectively \u2018bankrupt in 2023 was an alarming wave of cuts to local services as well as council tax hikes.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s latest budget plans sparked anger this month, with Conservative councillor Robert Alden describing them as \u201csmoke and mirrors\u201d and condemning services previously being \u201cslashed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cServicing costs are exploding and the same deep-rooted problems \u2013 from equal pay liabilities to financial mismanagement \u2013 remain unresolved,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the past year or so has seen striking bin workers claim they face a pay cut of \u00a38,000 \u2013 a figure the council has disputed.<\/p>\n
The council has repeatedly insisted a fair offer had been made before negotiations came to an end last summer, with the authority saying it had \u2018reached the absolute limit of what we can offer\u2019 amid equal pay fears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said Labour is \u2018backing Birmingham\u2019 after the city was beset by high-profile woes such…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[22440,22441,855,9163,22439,748,9444,1354,393,9453,4884,14987,269,12,3669,9440,93,16823,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-771446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-102-5","9":"tag-102-5-fm","10":"tag-birmingham","11":"tag-black-country","12":"tag-brierley-hill","13":"tag-britain","14":"tag-dab","15":"tag-dudley","16":"tag-england","17":"tag-fm","18":"tag-great-britain","19":"tag-halesowen","20":"tag-music","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-online","23":"tag-radio","24":"tag-sport","25":"tag-stourbridge","26":"tag-uk","27":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116088762878180578","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}