Fury as Labour MP in British City Piled High With Rubbish Requests New Airport in… Pakistan

A Labour MP for a city plagued with bin strikes and piled high with rubbish has backed calls for a new airport to be built in Kashmir. The Mail has more.

Tahir Ali, the MP for Birmingham, has come under fire for supporting a campaign for the new airport in another country.

He took to social media to voice his support for the project in the district of Mirpur, which is within the disputed Kashmir region administered by Pakistan.

He said on X: “There has been a long-standing promise for an international airport in Mirpur, which has yet to be met.

“This causes significant issues to a number of my constituents, who are having to drive over three hours to get to the nearest airport in Pakistan.

“I will continue to push for this cause, and pursue this issue until permission is granted for a new airport.”

But Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick replied scathingly: “You’re an MP for Birmingham, not Mirpur.

“The streets of your city are literally piled high in rubbish thanks to your Labour council. Focus on the UK.”

Bin strikes in Birmingham have wrecked havoc in the city, with residents complaining of rats and mountains of rubbish.

One waste collection lorry was filmed as residents overwhelmed by desperate residents laden with bin bags.

The lorry was besieged by so many people as it attempted to clear piles of rotting waste in the affluent Mosely suburb that a local councillor resorted to calling police.

West Midlands Police said two people have been arrested in connection to the ongoing industrial action, which escalated from a series of one-day walk outs to an all-out strike.

A week on from the strike, and a mobile collection – a bin lorry in a static location allowing residents whose bins aren’t being collected to drop their rubbish off – triggered what one observer called a “binmageddon”.

Citizens turned up in cars filled with black bags of rubbish which they were desperate to dispose of.

The BBC reported that people were seen rushing down the streets to the wagon carrying multiple bags.

Others were seen running down the middle of the road with their wheelie bins, desperate to unload them.

Cars loaded with rubbish were seen parked in the neighbourhood as police yelled at people not to dump their rubbish in the street.

Officers called the collection off early as tempers flared and the lorry reached capacity.

The rat infestation has become so bad the rodents have been dubbed the Squeaky Blinders because they appear to have the city in their grip – much like the Peaky Blinders gang of the late 19th Century which inspired the BBC drama series of the same name.

The Unite union says its members face pay cuts after the scrapping of waste collection and recycling officer roles. But Labour-run Birmingham City Council says its offer is “fair and reasonable”.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: The letter Tahir Ali signed calling for a new airport in Mirpur was also signed by eight Labour MPs who voted against expanding Heathrow in 2018. Mohhamad Yasin, Debbie Abrahams, Rosena Allin-Khan, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, James Frith, Imran Hussain, Afzal Khan, and Yasmin Qureshi – all Labour MPs who opposed the building of a third runway at Britain’s largest airport – signed the letter calling for an airport to be built in Mirpur, Pakistan. Zarah Sultana MP, who was not in the Commons when Heathrow expansion was last put to parliament, signed the letter. Earlier this year, she called the Prime Minister’s decision to back a third runway “indefensible” in the “middle of a climate emergency.” The News Hub Group has more.