Birmingham

Refuse collection workers in Birmingham have voted strongly in favour of extending strike action for a further three months.

The following is an appeal to the volunteer group Bearded Broz. I'm asking you to avoid collecting the bins while the Birmingham bin strike now enters its ninth week. Although I feel the points I make are valid no matter who say them, I should mention that I am not affiliated with Unite, nor am I a refuse collector. I am merely a resident of Birmingham who also happens to share a Pakistani background with many of you. Although I admire your proactive attitude, I believe doing the bin men’s work while they’re on strike can only have an adverse effect on our already neglected communities.

On 17 August, numerous national newspapers and news websites, published a story about “racist graffiti” directed towards white people in Saltley, a majority Pakistani area of inner-city Birmingham. The piece, originally published by the local Birmingham press, goes on to claim that this corroborates a broad trend of “white working class Brummies” fearing parts of the city had become “no-go areas” for them.

In response to the growing Charist movement the government turned to the army and the police to maintain control of the northern districts. As a result modern policing developed and the practice of loaning out Metropolitan Police to hot spots began.