Birmingham Follow

"I think that we have a good chance because people are disillusioned and dissatisfied with Labour," says Raghib Ahsan, Respect council candidate for Lozells & East Handsworth in Birmingham.

Miltary families in Birmingham Some 120 people came to hear Susan Smith, Rose Gentle, Linda Holmes, Billy Hayes and Salma Yaqoob on Thursday of last week in Birmingham. Linda Holmes’ son is in the Guards. He is due to go to Iraq in May with a further posting to Afghanistan. Linda said she had voted Labour all her life – but never again. She is coming on the demonstration on Saturday. Susan Smith said her son Phillip told her, "I don’t think we’re helping, mum." Four days later he was dead.

Some 300 youth workers, including delegations from Liverpool and Birmingham as well as local supporters, marched through Northampton town centre on Saturday of last week fronted by the CYWU union banner.

The Amicus union has called off a series of strikes set to begin at Birmingham International Airport on Thursday of this week. These were called as part of a campaign of industrial action after two workers were sacked.

Around 26,000 lecturers at over 200 colleges struck on Wednesday of last week over pay, and hundreds demonstrated in Birmingham as education secretary Ruth Kelly visited the city.

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Recent community tensions between the African Caribbean and Asian communities in Birmingham have starkly exposed the gross racial inequalities suffered by both communities.

Tenants from council estates across the country met in Birmingham last Saturday at a meeting organised by Defend Council Housing.

The usual suspects seized on the tragic events in the Lozells area of Birmingham last weekend to proclaim, yet again, that "multiculturalism has failed".

Activists from across Birmingham’s African Caribbean and Asian communities are uniting to call for peace and justice in the wake of last Saturday’s riots in the Lozells area. These left at least one man dead and several injured.

The Amicus trade union is balloting its members in Birmingham city council for strike action over plans to privatise the city’s highways services.

Over 80 delegates from across the country met in Birmingham this weekend to launch a national campaign against city academies, as the Times Educational Supplement revealed how ministers "mislead" the public over the scheme.