The meeting took place in English. A short prayer was recited in Arabic for around 30 seconds and then translated into English.
If that’s being presented as evidence that meetings are not being conducted in English, it says more about the narrative than the reality.
Ungovernable Birmingham is coming true
- Labour and Reform rule out any coalitions
- Tories won't work with Greens, nobody wants to work with Independents
- Leaving Green/LD as the best option, and they only have 31 seats between them
- Government intervention feels inevitable
@Se_Railway guys somethings gone very wrong on the 19.20 out of Charing x to gravesend and it smells like a farmyard. People are moving away in horror. I moved carriages but it’s moving upwards. Honestly it’s biochemical warfare
@Se_Railway It was the last carriage of the last train so I moved into the second back train and it’s moved along. Entire carriages of people moving down to the front of the carriage to avoid the smell. Honestly is horrific.
Bhangra celebrations by British Pakistanis in Birmingham after the Independents beat Labour over local issues and the Gaza war. There were 13 independents elected for the council in Birmingham. The Independent Alliance backed by the lawyer Akhmed Yakoob and Afsar Shakeel has caused huge damage to the decade old Labour hold in the city in the Pakistani community areas. Bad news for the Labour and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood - the Baradriism and clan card is over, community leaders’ control over the British Pakistani community is broken.
'I will put my name forward to stand for the leader of the Labour party'
Labour MP Catherine West tells #BBCPM that she will begin a leadership election on Monday morning if the cabinet doesn't elect a leader amongst themselves.
I can’t pretend that the results across the West Midlands don’t hurt. Good councillors - many of them friends - have lost their seats.
This region has taken an economic battering for generations. Jobs that were here haven’t come back. High streets that were thriving aren’t what they were. Our public services have been hollowed out. People feel that every day, and they’re rightly frustrated.
The ballot box is how people send a message. And I don’t think that message has changed since I was elected - ‘make life better, and do it quickly’.
That’s a fair ask. And that message being sent louder means we have to go faster and make sure more people feel the difference we’re making.
So there is soul searching to do. It’s a time to reflect, respond and refocus. I will be doing that too. But my promise to the West Midlands stays the same. I won’t stop fighting for the people of this region.
I want people to have hope about the future and hope for the place where they live. And that will continue to be my focus everyday.
Birmingham election update:
The pro‑Gaza independents led by TikTok lawyer Akhmed Yakoob and Afsar have taken 8 seats, maybe 2 more coming. They were boasting about 20+. Reality landed. And in my view, even 8 is already too many for this city.
Scattergun voting in Birmingham. Voters deeply opposed to each other living shoulder-to-shoulder. I hope sense prevails and everyone can coexist peacefully. But that map is giving pressure cooker vibes.
Akhmed Yakoob’s awaiting trial for money laundering
Now his partner Shakeel Afsar is on bail for blackmail having recently been convicted of failing to license 27 of his 100 properties
Don’t vote for these homophobes, conmen and bullies
https://t.co/ChRY2Vetdf