our Monday Briefing is out now, incl: 🥊'Your Party' fall out 🧑‍💻Tory campaigner locked out of FB 💰£30k rewards for info on Oldbury sex attack

@birminghamdispatch.bsky.social getting a mention here as an "innovative new outlet" 😊

During the past week, residents in Smethwick have rallied around a young Sikh woman who was the victim of a racially aggravated rape. But support came in the form of two very different gatherings, with one side urging people to 'boycott' the other.

Your Monday Briefing is out now, incl: 🚨Latest on racially motivated Oldbury attack ⚽️Great Barr United's celeb backers 🗳️Reform win in Walsall council byelection +much more

I kick things off with a softball question. What is Richard Parker’s favourite restaurant? 🍛 I do not expect him to reply: “the one where the meal finishes as quickly as possible.” 🕦

📢DON'T FORGET📢 The Dispatch is hiring! If you're a brilliant Brum writer with a knack for finding stories and experience reporting, we want to meet you. Apply by 5 October. www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/the-dispatch...

As a teenager, pop-artist Peter Phillips spent evenings and weekends cruising from Selly Oak Road, through the suburbs and towards the city centre. "I sat in the front seat… until we picked up girls — which was the whole gesture of it. That’s what you do when you have a car.”

Is Birmingham still the UK's second city? Many of the statistics are grim: 🏚️Second highest rate of economic inactivity (25% of the working age population). 🎒 The worst performing region for GCSEs in the country. 🎓The lowest graduate employment share (30%) of any large UK city.

🚨I'm absolutely delighted to announce that the brilliant Cameron Barr, the former Snr Managing Editor of the @washingtonpost.com, has joined @millmedia.bsky.social as our first Investigations Editor. It's a huge win for us and for local journalism in this country. pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/med...

Another excellent feature from @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social Now a walking route, the city's first dedicated commuter line has a huge legacy www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/how-harborne...

Your Monday Briefing is out now, ft: 📈Does Brum have an 'out of work' crisis? 🥊The big growth debate: WMCA vs Centre for Cities 💰2 x Brum National Lottery winners yet to claim prize + lots more

Far-right extremists have been linked to the organising of Operation Raise the Flag - but ordinary people in South West Brum have joined in the frenzy. What do they think about it all?

In the West Midlands, dozens of architecturally valuable buildings stand derelict, seemingly awaiting their fates. From the monumental brutalism of the Smallbrook Queensway Ringway Centre to the grandeur of Methodist Central Hall.

Your Monday Briefing is out now, ft: 📨An invitation to our Dispatch event! 🏠 Children's homes close after shocking report 🇬🇧 Flag fury + more

This weekend’s @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social feature is a treat: a ride along with Sutton Park’s head ranger, doing a drive by on the park’s history, stewardship and future. www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/danny-champi...

This weekend, we are going on a ride through the 500 year old woodlands of Sutton Park. By Dan Cave.

“I’d put my head in a noose,” says Jane Jones. “I knew I was likely to be deselected and had an inkling of who would be replacing me […] but the decision to leave the party has, I’ll be honest, been traumatic.”

Your Monday Briefing is out now, ft: 📨An invitation to our Dispatch event! ⁉️Who is flying all the flags in Northfield? 🪧Nuneaton protests + more

Your summer holidays probably involve a holiday somewhere and trying to keep the kids busy. But back in the early to mid 20th Century, families from Brum and the Black Country would head to the likes of Herefordshire and Worcestershire to spend long hot days picking hops.

Did you catch our story yesterday about the curious case of the (maybe?) Conservative councillor in Frankley Great Park? Northfield MP Laurence Turner says he's written to the Conservative Party as a result of our story, asking for clarity on Simon Morrall's membership status.

What transpired was a bizarre saga, involving an incensed phone call and threats of legal action against his - former? current? - party. Still, Simon Morrall says he has been re-admitted into the Conservatives. Birmingham’s Conservatives seem less sure. What’s going on?

Big development in our story today...

"You’re not a journalist, you’re a political activist”. I’m on the phone to Simon Morrall, councillor for Frankley Great Park. He is not very happy. “I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t trust you, [...] I’m very confused about why you’re doing a hit piece on me.”

Your Monday Briefing is out now, ft: 🚨Police 'cover up' accusations 🗣️Family of murdered man accus government of 'indifference' 💼Top small businesses in Brum revealed + much more www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/reform-accus...

Bartley Green Library is a tiny little thing; a compact, unassuming Edwardian red-brick structure. And yet, it’s become one of several key fronts local groups across Birmingham are fighting a mostly unreported battle on.

🗞️Monday briefing out now, featuring: 🌪️Is Birmingham the UK's 'tornado alley'? 🌊Why are canals all over the city drying up? Plus: Brum's Restaurant Festival launches and one of the city's famous sons gets vulnerable

Is B13 having an existential crisis? Moseley was once bohemian and arty, then trendy and hedonistic. Now house prices crest £1m and locals wonder how the latest era is going to shape the area.

“Boom. All the cisterns blew off the walls, the toilet bowl [exploded], bits of porcelain flying everywhere. Ozzy was running around flapping his hands like an eagle”. @rhistorer.bsky.social shares three encounters between her father and Ozzy Osbourne in our special edition today.

A special edition today, including reflections on Ozzy Osbournes’s life and legacy from the Brum figures that knew and were inspired by him, and a remembrance from Rhi Storer, who was at Black Sabbath’s final Villa Park gig.

Last night brought the shock news of Ozzy Osborne's passing, just weeks after he and Black Sabbath reunited for a Villa Park homecoming show. Richard Franks traced the Aston roots of the rockers for us earlier this year.

🗞️ Want a shot of easily digestible West Midlands news to start your week? Great, because every Monday, The Dispatch publishes a totally FREE morning round-up of the latest headlines, reads and events coming up. Today there's long reads on HS2 & culture war talks.

From a sunset-daubed concrete viewing concourse, I watch 20 little paws create a satisfying tremolo as they race along the sandy track in front of me. It's the last day at the greyhound races in Perry Barr.

Your Monday Briefing is out now, incl: 🥊Unite goes to war with Labour 🧑‍⚖️Legal action for council over day centre closures 🔥The big Brum Cigar smoking contest + more

In May, Stirchley bar Deadbeat applied for a licence to extend closing time from 12 to 1am. They didn't expect it to be controversial. Then the disapproving comments rolled in.

Silly season is nearly upon us! Until then, here's a round-up of recent, bite sized political news about Birmingham.

Today's Monday Briefing: ⚖️Fight for an inquest into Avtar Singh Khanda's death continues 🦇Black Sabbath bids epic farewell 🌲Is this Brum's filthiest park?

Oat milk drinking young professionals? Couples with one eye on the suburbs? 🥛 Dispatch readers were curious to know who lives in the modern city centre flats. @danielcave_ went door knocking. www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/who-lives-in...

EXCL: Manchester and Birmingham are constantly vying to be England’s ‘second city’. The Dispatch has crunched the numbers and uncovered a pretty damning tale: Manchester’s economy is leaving Birmingham in the dust. Why? Let us explain…

A tale of two cities: why is Birmingham flagging while Manchester roars ahead? We dig into the latest data to find out. www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/manchesters-...

Monday Briefing, out now: 🚗Road safety emergency action stalls 📕Sutton Coldfield loses library, gains three hours of 'mobile library' per week 🌳Harborne tree theft 📰Brum write ups in @TheCriticMag and @TheEconomist www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/birminghams-...

'Last week, I lost control of a car at high speed. It was a white Mini Metro, entrusted to me by Dave Warren, a friendly retiree from Atherstone'. Brum's historic slot car clubs offer an unusual point of social connection & positive masculinity. But they're under threat.

George Galloway's Workers Party bills itself as a populist alternative to Reform focused on recruiting the multi-ethnic working class. And its national HQ is in Moseley. Samuel McIllhagga went to find out why they're laser focused on Brum. www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/workers-part...

Monday briefing out now: 🚒Balti institution Shababs sets on fire 📈New poll: Brummies blame council for bin strikes 🍹New hospitality launches coming in September 🚄HS2 'litany of failures' www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/balti-bastio...

In the 1950s, an urban renewal programme began in Birmingham that would see the fastest slum clearance in England. Hundreds of thousands were displaced and new homes and towns hastily constructed to house them.

When The Dispatch heard tell of a gaggle of Brum students marooned on a rock in the middle of the North Sea, tasked with filming a quasi-sequel to one of the world’s most famous horror films, our interest was piqued... www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/birmingham-u...

When The Dispatch heard tell of a gaggle of Brum students marooned on a rock in the middle of the North Sea, tasked with filming a quasi-sequel to one of the world’s most famous horror films, our interest was piqued... www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/birmingham-u...

"When Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth played at Supersonic a few years ago, my friend picked her up from the airport; all Gordon wanted to talk about was Swell Maps". Who are Swell Maps, the forgotten 1970s Solihull band who influenced guitar music greats?

Half a century since Swell Maps burned bright and brief, they’ve come back to life. Ian Francis uncovers a story of genius — and loss. Today's story is out now. www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/the-solihull...

Monday Briefing out now: 🍻Black Monday: two of city's best-loved venues closing 🚨A siege in Perry Barr 🏡Solihull house extension woes 🎟️Bus fares rising www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/black-monday...

Once locally beloved and a touchstone for the Chinese disapora, Wing Yip is fading on both fronts www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/woon-wing-yi...