No.11 bus ride on the cards for MP after ‘godawful’ Brum jibe
ATORY MP who called Birmingham ‘‘godawful’’ and triggered a backlash is to visit the city later this month to learn ‘‘the error of her ways’’.
Mayor Andy Street said Heather Wheeler had accepted his invitation, revealing she was actually enthusiastic to visit.
“She is coming and I look forward to hosting her,” Mr Street said.
“I have in mind taking her on the number 11 bus (the circular route takes in Kings Heath, Cotteridge, Harborne, Perry Barr, Erdington and Acocks Green) but am happy to hear other suggestions!”
He said: “In her text to me she said she was really looking forward to coming to brilliant Birmingham.
“I am looking forward to showing her around.”
The MP for South Derbyshire seemed to go off-script during a launch event for the Government’s new digital strategy earlier this month, saying: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”
Ms Wheeler, who is a parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, apologised after her gaffe was reported.
She said she made an “inappropriate remark that does not reflect my actual view”.
Her comment triggered a typically Brummie outpouring, with majestic images of city scenes posted on social media with a #godawful hashtag.
MP Jess Phillips tweeted a picture of a beautiful park scene from the city with the comment: “Good morning from God Awful Birmingham”, adding, “the best thing about Birmingham is the fact we respond to this stuff with a shrug and a joke.”
But Ms Phillips didn’t let the jibe go without a warning on the “implied snobbery” and “sneering way” Ms Wheeler had criticised her home city.
The Labour MP is known for being a strong advocate of Birmingham. Ms Phillips added: “On Heather Wheeler saying Birmingham was ‘godawful’, I am not mortally offended, I am used to people thinking this stuff and being wrong and also people make off the cuff remarks regrettably all the time, we’ve all done it.
“It’s the implied snobbery that’s the problem.
“There are bits of the country that are less beautiful or offer something different than rolling hills or hipster paradise (incidentally we have both in Birmingham and much else
In her text to me she said she was really looking forward to coming to brilliant Birmingham. Andy Street
besides). It’s OK not to like everywhere. It’s not OK to look down on them in a sneering way.
“Being a patriot, as I’m sure Wheeler wishes to present herself as and thinks she is, is about much more than singing ‘Jerusalem’ and waving flags – that’s about show.
“Patriotism to me is about finding the joy from the people and the grit as well as the scenery in our country.
“The best thing about Birmingham is the fact we respond to this stuff with a shrug and a joke, like when the stupid American made Islamaphobic comments about Birmingham, the response of my Midlands community was a thing of p***-taking joy.
“I love Blackpool. If Heather Wheeler is looking for something godawful I suggest she drives a van of children from Blackpool to Birmingham on the M6 and maybe puts her ire into improving the transport links in the Midlands and North.”
Photographers, residents and visitors posted their own sunny images highlighting the best bits of Brum after the crass remark.