The great thing about politics is everyone can have an opinion and there are several sides to every story and this week’s, widely regarded as the nastiest council meeting in recent memory, was no exception.
On the surface, it was all about who was to blame for the cuts, the Government or the Birmingham Labour group, and questions of where that axe should fall; garden car park charges, child protection or outsourcing whole swathes of the council’s bureaucracy.
But there was a distinct undercurrent throughout that Sir Albert Bore’s Labour leadership was on trial.
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The usual level of discontent among Labour’s 77 councillors has grown exponentially of late and it is increasingly likely there will be a serious challenge after the May election.
The Labour leader’s 50-minute speech was greeted with only a lukewarm round of applause from his comrades. To his enemies, this was a sign of the widespread discontent in the ranks, but to friends there was just
But the mood changed as Tory leader Robert Alden, in striped blazer looking like an extra from a Merchant Ivory film, led a series of personal attacks on Sir Albert.
, questioned his rival’s near-on two decades as Birmingham’s Labour group leader and suggested it was time he stepped aside. Alden also sought to sow division by urging Labour backbenchers to back his populist budget amendments to save libraries, scrap the garden tax and stop new car park charges.
He sat down to a standing ovation and cheers from his own councillors. His speech set the tone and there were further personal attacks from the young turks on the Tory benches.
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It is almost certain the heightened aggression is directly related to the uncertainty around the upcoming elections.
So Labour circled the wagons in defence of their leader and their budget.
Before the budget, the Labour group had met to discuss the Kerslake report, one of a series of meetings set up by Sir Albert in the face of criticism that his group of back-benchers was being ignored.
There has always been a significant anti-Albert group on the Labour back-benches, but this is growing of late, with many waiting for a widely-respected councillor to issue a challenge. So far, with an anxious election campaign to get out the way first, no one is willing to break ranks.
According to Labour members, the leader took away the message they wanted more of a and for the councillors to take ownership of the improvement process – rather than let the Government appointed panel lead.
An immediate response to this saw Sir Albert state categorically he believes there should not be a cut in the number of councillors from 120 as proposed by Kerslake.
He also stated he would keep protesting about the ‘unfair’ share of local government cuts being handed to Birmingham – despite Kerslake telling him to stop banging on about what he hasn’t got and worry about what he has.
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The Labour leader is walking a tightrope between satisfying his increasingly angry and anxious backbenchers and making sure he doesn’t rattle the Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles too much by challenging Kerslake – or else he risks being replaced by a government-appointed commissioner.
And, after more than four hours of angry debate, Sir Albert again took to the Council Chamber podium to defend his budget and, fired up to the full, offered a scathing take-down of the Tories.
In mid flow, there was an ambiguous cry from the Labour back benches of ‘are you finished Albert?’ from Carl Rice, greeted with howls of laughter from the opposition.
The embarrassed councillor insists it was a joke as, by this stage, the debate had been going on for five hours – and Sir Albert had accounted for about a quarter of that.
Unruffled, Sir Albert continued. Earlier, he had been accused of being in denial about Kerslake, but he countered by highlighting the previous Tory-led administration’s role in building up the crippling equal pay debt, increasing staff sickness rates, rent rises for council tenants and failings in children’s services.
Being a long-server, he has a long memory for these things.
Sir Albert’s supporters said he showed doubters once again why he had been the leader for so long and that, with a reputation for being the great survivor, he would perform when under pressure.
And, in contrast to his earlier speech, this one was greeted with a raucous standing ovation from the Labour ranks – some say entirely spontaneous, others say driven by the group whip.
It seems whatever the ups and downs for the Labour group in recent months, it’s OK for them to criticise their leader, but they won’t take it from the opposition.