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Interview with Catherine O'Flynn click
Stirrer TV interview with Robin Valk click
Former Warwickshire all-rounder Paul Smith talks candidly to Stirrer TV about his book "Wasted" click
Medal winning athlete Tanni Grey Thompson introduced a new line for wheelchair users and other disabled people. click
Watch the Stirrer's interviews with Gary Taylor click here and John Madin click here
Rageh Omaar explains why Bush and Blair were good for Bin Laden click
 Fred Grove talks to The Stirrer about his battle to keep his house in the face of redevelopment. click
The Stirrer talks to Ron Watts about starting The 100 Club in London 30 years ago click
Excuse our breathless enthusiasm, but we've just seen the presentation for the VTP 200 - the most eye-catching building in Birmingham for years. And yes, it's got us excited. See for yourself why it's got us all aquiver more
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VAZ BAGS WALSALL SOUTH
18-03-2010
TV presenter Valerie Vaz - the sister of Labour MP Keith Vaz - has been selected as the party’s candidate for the Walsall South seat due to be vacated by Bruce George at the next election. more
BNP ACTIVIST LEAVES LEGACY OF SMEARS
18-03-2010
Birmingham father David Wilson found hanged on the Isle of Wight was a BNP activist and sex offender whose legacy included a vicious series of websites against a local council house campaigner. more
LABOUR DIS-UNITED OVER UNION INFLUENCE
17-03-2010
West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson woke this morning to find himself in the middle of a row about the influence of the Unite union on the Labour party - with national newspapers claiming that the selection of a candidate to replace former Minister James Purnell has become the battleground for the party's Blairite and Brownite factions. more
LAST BITE FOR MEALS ON WHEELS DEAL
17-03-2010
Wolverhampton councillors will have another chance tonight to reject plans for an 83% increase in meals on wheels. Opposition Labour councillor Steve Evans is putting forward a motion proposing a more modest 5% increase. more
MOSELEY SCHOOL – THE ANSWERS?
17-03-2010
The Stirrer has been nagging away at Birmingham Council to discover the truth about the creation of a Trust to run Moseley School – and after a former governor was warned off from leafleting we asked the local authority to answer four vitals questions. Here’s their reply… more
Dave’s Villa Blog
KEEP ’EM COMING
17-03-2010
After the excitement of the cups it’s been back to routine league games for the Villa. Dave Woodhall casts his eye on what’s been going on in B6. more
CITY OF CULTURE – ARE YOU ON THE BUS?
17-03-2010
Birmingham takes the latest step in its bid to become UK City of Culture today, when an open top tourist bus takes to the streets to mark locations selected by residents for events at an imaginary arts festival. more
PLEASE RE-LEASE ME...
17-03-2010
The opposition Labour leader on Wolverhampton Council is insisting that his group isn’t opposed to the redevelopment of Molineux football stadium – despite their decision to “call in” an application to extend Wolves lease on the ground to 999 years. more
Martin Longley’s Music Blog
NEW YORK SOUNDS: BIG BAND JAZZ
17-03-2010
Even in the midst of a fraught $$$$$ situation, the jazz big band is managing to survive. Martin Longley has been ruining his eardrums in New York City... more
Hustings News
LADYWOOD CANDIDATES MEET RESIDENTS
17-03-2010
Representatives from mainstream political parties will be attending a residents meeting in Ladywood, especially themed to coincide with the forthcoming General Election. more
Kingy’s Wolves Blog
CHIM CHIM CHEROO
17-03-2010
Brendan King is becoming a bit fed up with seeing the same colours game after game. The results are picking up, though. more
DAN’S THE MAN
17-03-2010
Dave Woodhall has been surfing around the internet and discovered a remarkable man, whose deeds deserve a wider audience. more
A GROVE PROBLEM
17-03-2010
Halesowen Town have had problems off the field this season, but their supporters have remained loyal in adversity. Last night, though, it seems some of them might have gone a bit too far. more
£30M COMPO CLAIM OVER HI SPEED RAIL LINK
16-03-2010
Birmingham City University has confirmed it’s seeking £30million compensation for its planned Eastside arts campus following the announcement of a high speed rail link to London – the first example of the planning blight forecast last week on The Stirrer. more
BRUM PAEDO SET FREE AFTER PAYING HUSH MONEY
16-03-2010
The decision to allow Birmingham paedophile Gerard Raffell to walk free after paying £18,000 hush money to the parents his four year old victim must rank as one of the most disgraceful in the inglorious history of the British legal system. more
COUNCILLORS VOW TO TACKLE WOLVES STADIUM PLAN
16-03-2010
Wolves’ plans to extend Molineux to a 37,000 capacity aren’t guaranteed an easy ride from the City Council – not least because of Stirrer blogger Brendan King’s well-publicised spat with the club over disabled parking. more
Get Out More...Film Preview
MONTY PYTHON’S ORATORIO – FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY
16-03-2010
Get ready for a feast of clichés as the film of the musical of the film gets an exclusive showing at Wolverhampton’s Light House cinema. more
OI OI OYSTER
16-03-2010
Just days after the government gave its backing to a high speed rail link between Birmingham and London, it’s emerged that passengers on the Number 50 bus are getting a taste of what Centro thinks the future looks like – an Oyster-style swipe card that can’t be used on the region’s other forms of transport. more
KNOW YOUR LIMITS
16-03-2010
There have been new calls to reduce the drink-driving limit. But as Dave Woodhall says, do we need more motoring laws, or just better use of the ones we’ve already got? more
AND DON’T CALL ME SHERLY
16-03-2010
Sir Anthony Sher is possibly the greatest Shakespearean actor of his generation as well as an accomplished painter. To stage an exhibition of his work is an undoubted coup for Coventry’s Herbert Art gallery. more
“THOUSANDS” VICTIMS OF UNFAIR STOP AND SEARCH
15-03-2010
More than 9,000 black and Asian people were subject to “disproportionate” police stop and search demands in the West Midlands last year according to new figures released today by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. more
IT’S ACOCKS UP – ‘COS KIDS DON’T VOTE
15-03-2010
Word reaches The Stirrer of radical changes to Acocks Green library which are already affecting the childrens’ section – maintaining the City Council’s recent record of punishing kids for its own economic incompetence. more
AN INEXPERT WITNESS
15-03-2010
Sympathy is one thing. But as Dave Woodhall explains, how much credence should we give to victims and their families when the law is being discussed? more
Andy’s Blues Blog
BATTLE OF THE BLUES
15-03-2010
Blues came back from two down to gain a point at home to Everton on Saturday. Andy Munro was casting his eye over proceedings. more
TORIES SAY "LET US PREY"
15-03-2010
Are the Tories still the nasty party? That’s the question debt campaigners are asking after a lone Conservative backbencher spiked a bill on Friday aimed at killing off Vulture Funds which prey on debt-ridden countries. more
MOSELEY GOVERNOR WARNED OVER SCHOOL LEAFLETS
15-03-2010
One of the deposed governors at Moseley School has been warned against making “inflammatory remarks” by a senior Birmingham Council officer after leafleting pupils. more
SCAR TISSUE
15-03-2010
Considering he's supposedly a spent force, former miners' leader Arthur Scargill attracted a healthy crowd and plenty of media attention when he visited Wolverhampton last week. John Tyrrell who is a member of Scargill's Socialist Party, asks why trying to keep the mines open was more controversial than closing them. more
SIGN O THE TIMES
13-03-2010
Want to know how far Birmingham has fallen behind Manchester in national esteem? Just check out the editorial about Hi Speed 2 in yesterday’s Times. more
EVERY LITTLE ONE HELPS
13-03-2010
Dave Woodhall wonders whether we might be seeing a new spirit of co-operation in the high street. Or rather, in the out of town retail park. more
DYSON IN FOR DOOLAN
13-03-2010
It looks like The Stirrer's story about BBC WM getting a more serious, newsy outlook is about to bear immediate fruit - former Birmingham Mail editor Steve Dyson has been hired as a guest presenter. He's replacing veteran Ed Doolan later this month, while he has a cataract op. more
Get Out More..........................Play Review
BEHNA
13-03-2010
Talk about “intimate performance space” - The Rep has been experimenting with a drama performed in the kitchen of ordinary houses in Birmingham. Paula Elenor squeezes in. more
PLASTIC FANTASTIC
13-03-2010
Shoppers in Penn Fields are being given free re-usable bags in a bid to make the area "plastic free" - all to mark the sixth anniversary of Wolverhampton becoming a fair trade city. more
The Stirrer’s Legendary Pub Crawls
FRANKLEY/RUBERY
13-03-2010
To the rundown outskirts of B45, beyond the Lickeys, where town meets country and council houses square up to the green fields of Worcestershire. If Springsteen was a Brummie, he’d have sung about places like this… more
HI SPEED 2 IS FAST TRACK TO EASTSIDE BLIGHT
12-03-2010
The announcement of plans for a high speed rail link from Birmingham to London have been widely welcomed – except in Eastside where years of planning blight can now be expected. It’s also curious that Curzon Street, previously pooh-poohed by officials as a rail terminal, has now been identified as the ideal spot. more
RAIL LINK COULD LEAD TO WESTMIDLONDONSHIRE
12-03-2010
News that Birmingham is getting a high speed rail link to London has been broadly welcomed across the political arena, with Council leader Mike Whitby describing it as “transformational” – but Friends of the Earth have warned against the development of West Midlondonshire. more
Get Out More.........................Film Review
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
12-03-2010
Tim Burton’s re-fashioning of Lewis Carrol’s surreal fantasy looks fantastic – but as Adrian Goldberg reports, it amounts to little more than a well-dressed chase movie. more
YESTERDAY MAN?
12-03-2010
The visit of Arthur Scargill to Wolverhampton to give his response to the recession has stirred up a few bloggers on The Stirrer Forum so we sent along "Ruth Thatcher" to witness his address. more
BIRD BRAIN MP TRIES TO SAVE DEBT VULTURES
12-03-2010
The smooth progress of a parliamentary bill designed to outlaw "Vulture Funds" which prey on debt-ridden countries could come to an abrupt halt in the Commons today, thanks to a backbench Tory MP. The Jubilee Debt Campaign can barely contain its anger. more
Andy’s Blues Blog
BLUES IN THEIR POMP
12-03-2010
Aah, that’s more like it. Andy Munro relishes Blues midweek return to form. more
COMMUTER BELT BRUM SPEEDS CLOSER WITH NEW RAIL LINK
11-03-2010
Plans for a new superfast £15bn rail network that will halve journey times between Birmingham and London were unveiled in parliament today – and they include a major new terminal at Curzon Street. The proposals for Hi Speed 2 raise the possibility that the city could become part of the capital’s commuter belt. more
HI SPEED 2 SPEEDS AHEAD - BUT COULD STILL HIT THE BUFFERS
11-03-2010
Today’s the day that Birmingham’s superfast rail link to London – aka Hi Speed 2 – gets the official go ahead, but given the Tories’ squeamishness about the project, not to mention the squeeze on public finances, the plan could yet hit the buffers. more
MAC WOW
11-03-2010
Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg gets a sneak preview of the new MAC in Cannon Hill Park – due to reopen on May Day following a £15million revamp. And yes, after two years of being dark, it has the WOW factor… more
Get Out More........................Gig Review
CHRIS REA
11-03-2010
The Teeside balladeer is approaching free bus pass age, but that didn’t stop our young whippersnapper Ioana Epure enjoying Chris Rea’s Symphony Hall show on Tuesday night. more
FIXING THE DATE
11-03-2010
Gordon Brown is currently deciding on what date to hold the next general election. Dave Woodhall thinks he should be saved the trouble. more
INDEPENDENCE DAY
11-03-2010
This year will see the twentieth anniversary of many things which happened in the aftermath of the Soviet bloc being disbanded. One of them is being commemorated in the unlikely setting of Wolverhampton. more
HIP INJURY
11-03-2010
House sellers are being ripped off by inadequate Home Information Packs – or HIPS – according to the most comprehensive survey of its kind carried out by Birmingham’s Trading Standards department. more
WAR ON WAR
11-03-2010
Corporal Sarah Bryant from Worcestershire was “unlawfully killed” according to a coroner when she and three colleagues were blown up in Snatch Land Rover in Afghanistan. Barbara Panvel offers a solution to the seemingly endless killing. more
Get Out More.................Film News
IT’S ALL AT THE CO-OP…NOW
11-03-2010
What with the Flatpack Festival and BIFS Birmingham already has a thriving indie movie scene, but there’s always room for one more on top. So welcome to the city’s Co-Operative Film Society which launches tonight. more
Martin Longley’s Music Blog
NEW YORK SOUNDS PT:113
11-03-2010
An adventurous new Birmingham jazzfest makes its debut today, running until Saturday evening. A particular highlight of Harmonic 2010 is the appearance of the Claudia Quintet at the CBSO Centre on Friday night. Martin Longley recently caught the band's leader John Hollenbeck in NYC... more
Terry’s Baggies Blog
WEDNESDAY WEAK
11-03-2010
Terry Wills has had a good week, just about. He’s got a trip abroad to look forward too as well. more |
THE STIRRER'S BLOG ROLL
Get Out More - Gig Guide
A TASTE OF SPAGHETTI - Pete Millington is a one-man writing factory. Not content with regular output for The Stirrer, he's found time to pull together the latest edition of his excellent magazine Spaghetti Gazetti, dedicated to local life and culture.
Check it out here
It's seriously good.
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