News that matters, campaigns that count for Birmingham, the Black Country and beyond http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/thestirrer.xml news The Stirrer en-gb Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:32:37 +0000 editor@thestirrer.com(Editor) Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:31:13 +0000 general webmaster@thestirrer.co.uk(Webmaster) FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.9) http://www.feedforall.com 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/bnp-activist-leaves-legacy-of-smears-180310.html ACD72D6C-F042-4DC0-86A3-11A7863D4A16 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:31:13 +0000 While the “legal high” mephedrone is attracting all the headlines following the death of two teenagers at the weekend, it’s arguable that it’s near namesake methadone - the state prescribed alternative to heroin – is altogether more dangerous, with one former addict telling Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg that it's widespread availability is "insane". more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/hi-to-a-high-180310.html 25CC007A-17B8-4AC3-AAC5-5EFA96D28436 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:30:57 +0000 Some of Wolverhampton's neediest people will have to pay an extra £540 a year after councillors once again backed proposals to increase Meals on Wheels prices by 83%. They also supported plans to restrict the opening days of the local authorities two refuse sites. more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/wolves-needy-face-meals-increase-180310.html 19AFD904-6B2B-4B5C-ACC0-745583E395B2 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:30:40 +0000 A chance remark from an old friend got Dave Woodhall wondering about moments of destiny. How many have lasted three minutes and also changed the world? more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/hey-rock-n-roll-180310.html 8E088FC4-8F6B-4C83-83FF-55B3BCB2A485 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:30:20 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/vaz-bags-walsall-south-180310.html E589A3F2-E36D-42E6-A07D-DC3CCCE45A76 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:29:56 +0000 Residents in Bournville aren’t just mourning the end of British ownership of Cadbury’s. They’re also sore at the City Council for removing trees from their once leafy suburb - and then failing to re-instate them due to costs. more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/going-bare-in-leafy-bourneville-180310.html 7A705F5A-035F-4B98-BE89-B01545D090A6 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:27:35 +0000 West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson woke to find himself this morning in the middle of a national 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/labour-disunited-over-union-170310.html 92A693E0-55BB-4A8C-BFB1-1E7654174386 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:26:30 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/last-bite-for-meals-170310.html D48577C8-9966-44A8-B29B-D01FB417CBCB Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:26:13 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/moseley-school-the-answers-170310.html AE48F820-C0B2-4367-8D9C-674F6B3DFDE6 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:25:45 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/city-of-culture-170310.html 25FECA91-122F-4DCF-A7D4-C113E87E7A43 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:25:24 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/please-release-me-170310.html 68DDEB63-BD0C-4462-A634-27DD7053FA08 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:24:03 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/thousands-victims-of-stop-and-search-150310.html 440A9116-64B8-4883-A651-563A05EB0253 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:05:51 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/its-acocks-up-140310.html 023E216A-CC30-4D17-A5F2-0580A708824C Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:05:33 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/an-inexpert-witness-150310.html 47ABD58F-3D90-45EA-BDF3-4AAC33204D26 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:05:16 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/battle-of-the-blues-150310.html A4577818-BC45-49AB-A9E8-133A6F6F7424 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:05:06 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/tories-say-let-us-prey-140310.html 3D6016E8-0837-4150-9A45-1FCE978A43EC Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:04:40 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/moseley-governor-warned-140310.html 64573D83-F5AD-4048-B589-8E47B065CE0E Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:04:25 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/scar-tissues-140310.html 92A52A02-95EA-477B-AD50-CE94F6F7EB7B Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:03:57 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/hi-speed2-is-fast-track-120310.html 0E52AE7B-4443-4C33-B4D5-8271ED8A6F1D Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:28:21 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/rail-link-could-create-westmidlondonshire-120310.html 5B885EEB-E47D-445B-8FD9-13B836D7F95E Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:28:04 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/alice-in-wonderland-120310.html EC1C189D-11A9-45C8-8DDF-6DC5184CB35E Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:27:45 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/yesterday-man-120310.html 2B4CD7C6-25B0-4640-975B-9A2BDE53503B Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:27:26 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/bird-brain-mp-120310.html 7335E881-8AB5-4CB1-8659-1F3D3E9CBAC3 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:27:07 +0000 Aah, that’s more like it. Andy Munro relishes Blues midweek return to form. more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/blues-in-their-pomp-120310.html 967D2C33-F973-4C61-A821-3B6CBB4484C3 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:26:37 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/hi-speed2-110310.html 85F46AD7-32A8-4357-A8FA-B201DD2F2FDA Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:05:50 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/mac-wow-110310.html E1D1E79B-A9E4-460B-B88A-DDACB0ED1417 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:05:32 +0000 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 http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/chris-rea-110310.html A701CA6A-9744-416F-AA12-434B8CDD8399 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:05:12 +0000 Gordon Brown is currently deciding on what date to hold the next general election. Dave Woodhall thinks he should be saved the trouble. more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/fixing-the-date-110310.html 31D74EFA-9152-42E1-8D5F-8731BA1AC0F7 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:04:54 +0000 The Pope’s visit to Britain in September, which includes a trip to Birmingham, will come at a cost to taxpayers – possibly as much as £20million. It’s a moot point whether this amount - or, indeed, anything - should be spent on an organisation which still can’t shrug off the taint of child sexual abuse. more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/pope-visit-to-birmingham-100310.html B70300E8-FFFE-45AE-969B-AC49CE90C680 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:48:30 +0000 The Stirrer hears rumblings from Sandwell where the borough’s 82-year old former mayor Bill Archer has been coming under pressure from fellow Tories to retire from his Wednesbury North seat – two years before he’s due to stand for election. more http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/March_10/no-plans-for-archer-to-bow-out-100310.html 9272202B-6CCC-4845-BA00-B805B20788AE Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:48:13 +0000