Lib Dems slam Council Leader’s ‘city no longer bankrupt’ Declaration

Today the Birmingham Council Leader has published their budget papers along with a declaration that the council is no longer bankrupt. 

Responding to the Leader, Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Roger Harmer said: 

“It is beyond shocking to hear that Labour, the party responsible for bankrupting our city, is now patting itself on the back and claiming to have fixed the issue. Birmingham's council bosses should hang their heads in shame after the pain they've caused local people here.

“Our streets are covered in fly tipping, our roads are crumbling, and our council tax has soared year on year. Having a council not declare bankruptcy is the bare minimum. 

“At the budget this month, the Liberal Democrats on the Council will be putting forward a positive plan that tackles residents' priorities. We'll be setting out our vision to deliver a cleaner, greener, safer city. 

"The lasting legacy of this Labour administration will be bankrupting Birmingham, and this May the best way to send them a message is to vote Liberal Democrat.” 

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Cllr Deborah Harries added: 

“We have a bin strike entering its second year, an IT system delayed and five times over budget, as well as millions lost in poorly managed regeneration projects, such as the Perry Barr village.

“The city council is still under Government intervention, and just yesterday the Commissioners set out their plan up to 2028, just to get the council functioning properly, as other councils do - Birmingham is far from ‘back in the mainstream of local government’.

“Stating that the ‘Bankrupt Birmingham’ tag is a thing of the past is as facile and tarnished as the ‘Golden Decade of Opportunity’ declared by the previous Labour Leader of the Council in 2022.

“This is frankly disingenuous to the residents of this city, who have endured the failings of the last decade, and nothing but cheap politics.”