The Birmingham Dispatch

16/08/2025

We’re back in cattle country,” says Danny Squire, Sutton Park’s senior ranger as he stops his jeep in a woodland clearing.

I’m his front seat passenger for the afternoon, surrounded by on-the-job debris: a roll of twine, a ring of countless keys, and multiple pairs of workmen’s gloves, as well as lots of foliage strewn over the jeep’s interior, via one of the vehicle’s open windows.

Hardly surprising. We’ve been driving down tracks in ancient woods, only visible to those who know the land, our hairpin turns brushing up against trees.

Being honest, I have no idea where we are. In the thicketed shadows, I thought we were in pony country — ponies graze on certain parts of Sutton Park, cattle on another — but I’ve lost track of our location, as well as what century we are in.

Read the full the story at the link in our bio.

16/08/2025

Step into the jeep, for this weekend's read we're going for a ride around Sutton Park 🦌

By Dan Cave
https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/0a2ee974-5f21-4cf3-a929-bef8d9c659f7/

13/08/2025

“I knew it was coming,” says Councillor Jane Jones. We’re sitting in a crowded bar just outside Erdington, bustling with Friday night fervour. Jones has represented Erdington’s Stockland Green ward since 2022 as one of two councillors. She wanted to add another four years to her docket, and was planning to stand in 2026’s local elections. 

But in July, Jones, along with 10 other Birmingham Labour councillors — including her ward mate, Amar Khan — received the news they had failed their selection panels. The majority represent wards in the Perry Barr and Erdington constituencies in the north of the city, while three in the south were also blocked from running as Labour candidates in the next ballot. It’s the equivalent of being unceremoniously sacked. 

Yet Jones says she knew it was coming. 

“I’d put my head in a noose,” she tells me, fixing my gaze with a poker player’s steely glare. Then her expression softens. “I knew I was likely to be deselected and had an inkling of who would be replacing me […] but the decision to leave the party has, I’ll be honest, been traumatic.” 

The Dispatch put Jones’ version of events to the Labour Party. They would not comment on individual interviews, but said all candidates went through a “rigorous selection process”, resulting in “a talented group of candidates” as selected by the NEC.

In a statement to The Dispatch, a Labour spokesperson added: “this Labour team is ambitious for Birmingham’s future and are already out in their communities listening to local people.”

Read the full story at the link in our bio.

13/08/2025

“I’d put my head in a noose,” says Stockland Green cllr Jane Jones.

Last month, Labour announced it was deselecting 11 cllrs. While the party insists the cohort merely didn’t pass their gruelling interviews, onlookers have highlighted the close links between those who made the cut and sitting politicians, prompting cries of cronyism. 🗯

In today’s story, Ed King speaks to Jane and fellow deselected member Barbara Dring, Labour insiders, and voters about the controversial cull. ✍️

‘We’re not allowed to speak; we’re not allowed to do anything’

11/08/2025

Your Monday Briefing is out now, ft:
📨An invitation to our Dispatch event!
⁉️Who is flying all the flags in Northfield?
🪧Nuneaton protests
+ more

Plus, HS2 reaches a milestone

08/08/2025

“You’re not a journalist, you’re a political activist”.

I’m on the phone to Simon Morrall, councillor for Frankley Great Park. He is not very happy.

“I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t trust you, [...] I’m very confused about why you’re doing a hit piece on me.”

I’m confused too, which is the reason I’ve phoned up Cllr Morrall in the first place. Recently at The Dispatch, we invited readers to send us their questions about Birmingham. Having already answered our first — ‘who lives in the city centre?’ — we thought it was time to take on another. And one subscriber posed an interesting line of inquiry.

Simon Morrall, councillor for Frankley Great Park. Photo: Facebook/Simon Morrall
“Why,” they asked, “is the Frankley Great Park councillor still in office, and possibly being lined up to stand for election in 2026, given he’s been convicted of harassment?”

In our midweek edition, The Dispatch's attempts to answer a simple question go awry.

04/08/2025

Your Monday Briefing is out now, ft:
🚨Police 'cover up' accusations
🗣️Family of murdered man accuse government of 'indifference'
💼Top small businesses in Brum revealed
+ much more

Plus, the best up-and-coming small businesses in Brum revealed

30/07/2025

Earlier this month, festivalgoers from across the globe descended onto the private lawns of Moseley Park for the latest sun-kissed edition of Mostly Jazz, Funk and Soul Festival. Headlined by Ezra Collective and Maribou State, ably supported by West Midlands talent such as drum and bass grandee Goldie, the festival has a throughline to the suburb’s storied musical past. The area was, after all, central to the rise of UB40, The Beat, Ocean Colour Scene and The Editors, from the 1970s through to the early noughties. Now the event claims to bring £1m to the city’s beleaguered entertainment and hospitality landscape. It’s quintessential Moseley, welcoming to both families with picnic lunches and wilder revellers. Well-heeled bacchanalia and community in balance.

Yet there’s a sense that Mostly is, now at least, an outlier in upmarket B13.

Read via link in bio 🔗

19/07/2025

From a sunset-daubed concrete viewing concourse, I watch 20 little paws create a satisfying tremolo as they race along the sandy track in front of me. It's the last day at the greyhound races in Perry Barr.

In today's read, a century of racing comes to a close.

A century of greyhound racing comes to a close

14/07/2025

Your Monday Briefing is out now, incl:
🥊Unite goes to war with Labour
🧑‍⚖️Legal action for council over day centre closures
🔥The big Brum Cigar smoking contest
+ more

Plus, the Brum cigar smoking competition you've never heard of

12/07/2025

In the 1970s, Birmingham's Pebble Mill Studios was home to the most radical, barrier-breaking and inventive television drama department in Britain: English Regions Drama. 📺

Today, the BBC invests less in the Midlands than any other region. Jon Neale explores the golden age of Brum telly - and the impact of its loss. ✍

10/07/2025

In May, Stirchley bar Deadbeat applied for a licence to extend closing time from 12 to 1am. They didn't expect it to be controversial.

Then the disapproving comments rolled in.

When Deadbeat bar applied for a licence to stay open until 1am, they unwittingly exposed a neighbourhood rift