Angela Rayner told to call emergency Cobra meeting and send in private firms to break Birmingham bin strike as rubbish piles up and giant rats move in_nhy
Ministers are under pressure to call an emergency Cobra meeting and send in private waste firms to break a bin strike that has left rubbish piling up in Birmingham‘s streets.
The Tories are demanding action from Communities Secretary Angela Rayner over the deepening industrial dispute that has left large parts of England’s second city looking like bomb sites.
Rubbish has been piling up in the streets of Birmingham after members of the Unite union began their all-out strike.
But talks on Thursday aimed at resolving the long-running strike this week failed to break the deadlocked pay dispute with the bankrupt formerly Labour-run city council.
Tons of rubbish has been left uncollected and the city is increasingly being plagued by large rats feasting on the contents of bags.
The Conservatives have written to Ms Rayner, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, calling on her to take action to resolve the strike.
In their letter, shadow communities secretary Kevin Hollinrake and shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart, called on the Government to hold a high-level Cobra meeting to respond to the dispute.
This would ‘ensure that there is a co-ordinated response between national and local government, and involving those professionals from across public health, civil contingencies and emergency services,’ they said.
The two senior Tories also called on the Government to ‘send in private sector rubbish collectors to bust the local authority refuse service strikes’.
The Tories are demanding action from Communities Secretary Angela Rayner over the deepening industrial dispute that has left England’s second city looking like a bomb site.
Tons of rubbish has been left uncollected and the city is increasingly being plagued by large rats feasting on the contents of bags.
The Conservatives have written to Ms Rayner, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, calling on her to take action to resolve the strike.
‘Waste collection is a fundamental service that residents expect councils to deliver,’ they wrote.
‘While it is shocking for residents to witness rubbish accumulating in their streets, it comes as no surprise to those who have scrutinised Labour’s governance of Birmingham since 2012.
‘Labour’s persistent failure to manage the city effectively has resulted in higher council tax, economic mismanagement, and now even the collapse of basic services, putting residents at risk.’
Nearly 400 council bin workers in Birmingham began indefinite strike action last week as part of a row over jobs and pay.
The union has claimed any chance of a breakthrough was being ‘hobbled’ by commissioners who were drafted in to help with the council’s finances.
They were sent in by the Government after the local authority effectively declared bankruptcy.
The Conservatives said the commissioners should be ordered to ‘cut the pay of local councillors and redistribute the funding to local services such as contracting external refuse collection agencies’.
The Conservatives also accused Labour of not having intervened because of its relationship with Unite.
Its general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘The council’s public statements about wanting to end this dispute are directly at odds with its sluggish approach to negotiations.
‘The lack of clear answers during talks, and the long periods between meetings make it seem like the council can’t call its own shots.
‘Are the council’s decision-making abilities being hobbled by unelected commissioners?
‘If that’s the case, the council needs to be honest with its workers and the public and tell them exactly what decisions it can and cannot make without the commissioners’ permission.’
Speaking in the House of Commons last week, environment minister Mary Creagh said resolving the strikes is ‘a matter to the council’.
Both sides in the dispute ‘need to get round the table and sort this out for the benefit of the people of Birmingham’, the minister added.
