| STEVE CUTTS Hosting the Commonwealth Games is good for business...
It is suggested that businesses could pay a one-off supplementary levy to their rates to contribute to the local funding for the Games.
After all, it is argued that a wide range of firms will benefit, for example, hotels, restaurants and bars will be rammed, there will be contracts for work on the venues and houses, and leisure businesses will host training camps.
And the wider business community will benefit from upgraded transport links.
The plan was unveiled in private meetings of councillors, but details of an exchange at the Labour group have now emerged in an email circulated to Labour members.
Cllr John Cotton, a former cabinet member, suggested that such a business rate supplement would need a ballot of businesses – but he was assured it would not.
So he checked and found that
AS the bins crisis rumbles on one councillor has revealed that her nosy neighbours seem to have taken to poking around her wheelie bin. Penny Holbrook (Lab, Stockland Green) told colleagues: “Certainly my neighbours are checking that I don’t get a better service than anyone else by personally walking down the street and having a look in my wheelie bin. I can confirm I’m not.”
MAaccording to the Localism Act (2011) Labour bosses in controversial a vote of businesses was required. circumstances. Once a protégé of
The email reply from Mr Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood, the O’Donnell confirms that the pair have fallen out in recent years. information they were working from In fact, it was Mr Mahmood’s was ‘out of date’ and he apologised ORE from the trenches of friend and former election agent to Labour members for the mistake. the Birmingham Labour Mohammed Hanif who hoped to
He adds that the proposal was not council selection war. The unseat Cllr Zaffar, but fell short in set in stone and always required first significant skirmish has seen the meeting of Lozells Labour further detailed work.For those who controversial councillor Waseem members. fear that this could scupper a bid, Zaffar win the right to stand for Cllr Zaffar secured 89 votes to Mr there is, of course, wide precedence election in the new Lozells ward in Hanif ’s 41. A third candidate got five for businessesvotes.votingfortax2018. increases.O It marks an upturn in ne selection down, several
Birmingham has about a dozen fortunes for Cllr Zaffar dozen to go. Business Improvement Districts who suffered the (BIDs) where firms have voted to humiliation of pay more because they see direct resigning from his benefit from the additional services cabinet post earlier the BIDs provide. All the Games bid this year following committee needs do is convince the unguarded and business community that this incorrect comments Games is good for them. on a local primary school’s hijab ban.
Even in the jumbled up world of inner city Labour political in-fighting, Cllr Zaffar, an ally of council leader John Clancy, manages to attract a huge number of enemies and was top of many rivals hit lists.
Cllr Zaffar was first elected in 2011 after overturning established councillor Mahmood Hussain.
He then secured his re-selection in 2015 without a vote of members, his candidacy was imposed by
It is suggested businesses could pay a one-off levy to contribute to the local funding for the Games
S well as Birmingham council seats, Labour is also looking to select candidates for winnable parliamentary seats early in case there is another snap election. Among them is Walsall North which last month saw Eddie Hughes become the first Tory MP since the mid-1970s. His slender 2,601 majority makes this a must win for Labour if they want to see Corbyn in Number 10.
So potential candidates are now lining up and I sincerely hope one of them is Kingstanding Labour councillor Des Hughes in a bid to unseat Eddie... his younger brother.