Bore: Crisis is the worst I’ve known

BIRMINGHAM’S political leaders are facing a mutiny from their own backbenchers – including former city leader Sir Albert Bore – over the “deeply concerning” way the city is being run.

A damning letter, signed by 23 Labour councillors, condemns the way Councillor Ian Ward and his cabinet are leading the city over a range of issues, including their handling of the highly-damaging bins dispute and a long-running wrangle with home care workers.

It comes just days after a meeting of the region’s Labour board voted overwhelmingly to call on the national Labour Party executive to investigate Cllr Ward and his deputy Cllr Brigid Jones to see if any party rules had been broken in connection with those disputes.

It adds up to an explosive condemnation of the leadership and an open challenge to them to act quickly to avert a crisis.

In their letter, sent to Cllr Ward on Tuesday morning, the backbench group said they shared “deep concern” at the approach taken by him and his cabinet team over the disputes.

They also highlight serious concerns about the role of officers, who they say are effectively ‘running the council’ and directing policy, rather than doing the bidding of their political masters.

The group features an array of veteran and new councillors, among them former leader Sir Albert Bore, veteran Mike Leddy and former bins chief Majid Mahmood, who recently resigned.

They called on the leaders to immediately withdraw the threat of a legal injunction over the bins dispute, which has now escalated into all-out strikes.

They also urge them to agree to not impose new working terms and conditions on home care workers in the enablement service and to use ‘every means possible’ to settle the disputes.

The leadership is also urged to take steps to improve relations with the city’s unions. FORMER city leader Sir Albert Bore said the crisis overtaking the council was the worst he had known in his 38 years in the chamber.

His comment came as council leaders vowed to press on with legal action against bin workers despite the backbench revolt.

However, bins chief Cllr Brett O’Reilly pledged to keep the door open for further talks to try to settle the dispute.

The Birmingham Post offered both Cllr Ward and Cllr Jones the right to reply, and requested a comment from the city council about the issues raised in the letter, but none was forthcoming as the Post went to print.

The letter adds to the pressure on the leadership team, coming three days after a meeting of the Regional Labour Party Board voted overwhelmingly for a motion asking the party’s national executive to investigate their conduct over the disputes.

The motion was brought by Unison, which represents the mostly female home care workers who have been in dispute with the council for 18 months over a planned overhaul of the enablement service, which supports residents towards independence after a hospital stay.

The Labour NEC will now consider the motion, though that is likely to take some time given the national crisis currently engulfing the Labour Party.

One source said there was a ‘very high’ level of concern ex-pressed at that meeting about the state of Birmingham’s leadership. Those concerns would have

But Cllr Bore, said: “I have been a councillor through some difficult periods but the way in which matters are being conducted now is worse than I have known in the 38 years I have been in this council.”

He also claimed more signatories could yet come forward to support the letter of dissent.

But he said he had ‘no intention’ of using the current crisis to trigger a vote of no confidence in Labour leader Cllr Ian Ward or his deputy Cllr Brigid Jones.

He said: “That was not the intention of the letter for me.

“We have tried very hard to get our views listened to, at Labour group meetings and in private. We are exceptionally frustrated and concerned.

“You cannot go on operating as we are, for as long as we are, without causing damage.”