Labour MP Liam Byrne has been lambasted for "swanning off" to Japan amid Birmingham's ongoing bin crisis, with commentator Carole Malone branding the decision "astonishing".The MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North - who is also chair of the business and trade committee - flew 6,000 miles to Tokyo for a "fact-finding mission" with seven other MPs at the end of last month.FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00Do you think Birmingham MPs should be at the moment, Karen Malone?
00:02Well, yeah, this story...
00:04Stick with your Labour, and this is a Labour-run council.
00:06This is Liam Benham, and this is the guy, he's the one that left that.
00:08No, didn't he say there's no money left.
00:10Chief Secretary of the Treasury.
00:11Yeah, he's gone off to Japan on a jolly, on a fact-finding mission.
00:14What facts could he possibly be finding that would be useful to Birmingham?
00:19Can't imagine.
00:19Especially at a time when there's 20-odd thousand pounds...
00:2221,000 tonnes.
00:23Tons of rat-infested rubbish, rotting industry.
00:26Can I just tell you as well?
00:27But you know how much the Birmingham council leader is on?
00:30I found this out yesterday.
00:32300 grand a year.
00:33This is the council...
00:34What?
00:34Yeah, that went bust last year.
00:36So they've brought in...
00:37This will be the chief executive?
00:38This is the chief executive.
00:39They've brought in four top executives at 300 grand apiece
00:43to sort out the financial debt.
00:46And they can't even get the rubbish collected.
00:47And they can't get the...
00:48And do you know what they're doing now, sir?
00:49They're fining residents a rat tax,
00:53because before it was free,
00:55if you had a pest problem,
00:58you'd call them out.
00:58It was free.
00:59Now they're having to pay.
01:01I mean, this is just...
01:02Well, I actually think every household in Birmingham
01:04is going to have a rat problem.
01:04Yeah.
01:05I mean, I think they just shouldn't...
01:06The rats are the size of cats.
01:07They shouldn't pay their council tax.
01:09You know, they've had a rise last year of 10%.
01:11This year it's 7.5%.
01:12It is.
01:13Next year it's going to be 7.5%.
01:15They asked for 10%,
01:16but they're going to get 7.5%.
01:18And nothing's happening.
01:20And this Liam Byrne,
01:21who was their MP,
01:23which is where this strike is happening,
01:25he's swanned off.
01:26Carol, there's...
01:27And he's extended the trip,
01:29so we can have some holiday.
01:30Can I have a say on this?
01:31Of course you can.
01:32Right.
01:32So Liam Byrne is not in the government.
01:35He has no jurisdiction or confidence...
01:38He's an MP.
01:38...to resolve this issue whatsoever.
01:40That is a matter for...
01:41But he has no responsibility to his constituents.
01:43No, that's not what I said.
01:45There is...
01:45He's not...
01:46He can't summon the different parties
01:48to resolve this dispute.
01:49That's a matter for sort of the council
01:51and the union
01:52and ultimately for national government.
01:53What about the perception, Jonathan?
01:55Well, look, what he is
01:56is the chair of the business committee.
01:58Yes.
01:59And that has an important job to do
02:01in finding out, you know,
02:02about the UK's trade relationships,
02:04about how the UK might sort of model
02:06its economy and commerce.
02:07And we have a lot to learn from Japan,
02:08by the way.
02:09So I have no objection to him.
02:10Hang on.
02:10He's at a five-star hotel in Japan.
02:13Where is this business leader...
02:14What would you expect him to stay in hospital, Andrew?
02:15Where is the chairman of the business committee
02:17on tariffs?
02:17The tariffs, hell, that's been unleashed.
02:20Nothing to say,
02:21because he's having a jolly in Japan.
02:22And he's missed several...
02:24He's missed several Commons hearings this week
02:26on the tariffs and on the economy.
02:28That is his job.
02:29And he's not doing...
02:30But this trip would have been planned...
02:31Look, I'm not responsible for Liam Byrne's diary,
02:34but this trip would have been planned
02:34a long time ago.
02:35Doesn't matter.
02:36You cancelled it.
02:36You cancelled it.
02:37Things happen.
02:38Well, I mean,
02:38I'm glad that we're talking about the tariffs,
02:40by the way.
02:41No, let's talk about this Birmingham MP.
02:42Do you really think he's in the right place?
02:44I think it's completely legitimate for MPs
02:46to go on delegations and to find things,
02:49and you can walk and shoot...
02:50At a time when your constituency
02:52is in the kind of mess that Birmingham is in just now,
02:56where you should be supporting...
02:57Where he should be raising that in Parliament.
02:59How many people have you heard,
03:01MPs in Parliament, raise this?
03:02I haven't.
03:03Hardly any.
03:03He should be shouting from the rooftops
03:05about what's happening in the city of Birmingham.
03:07Liam Byrne did give...
03:08I was on Patrick's show on Tuesday,
03:10and Liam Byrne did give a statement
03:11that Patrick went out on Tuesday.
03:12Got from Japan.
03:13Well, I don't know where he was at the time,
03:15but, you know, he's involved.
03:16I can tell you he was in Japan.
03:17He'd had staff going around.
03:18He was in Japan.
03:19OK, you can keep on saying it.
03:20Well, he was.
03:21Well, he was.
03:21That's where he is.
03:22I understand that.
03:23How is going to Japan
03:24going to help anyone
03:26running a small business in Birmingham?
03:27It's like saying,
03:28how is doing anything going to help that?
03:30But it just tells you so much
03:31about the priorities
03:32of the Labour government.
03:35They love flying around the world.
03:37You can be very parochial about this.
03:38It's not parochial.
03:40It's saying,
03:41can you just take care of matters
03:43in this country?
03:44Please.
03:44But that's not what local MPs do.
03:48There's the picture.
03:48What do you mean that's not?
03:50He's not a local MP.
03:52No, local MPs are not responsible
03:53for bin collections.
03:54He's not a local MP.
03:56He's an MP.
03:57He's a parliamentarian representative.
03:59Birmingham Hodgill.
04:00The people of...
04:00There's nothing local about him.
04:02Yeah, well, he's an MP for...
04:04All MPs are local MPs
04:06when it comes to their local...
04:07They're parliamentarians
04:08representing a constituency.
04:10Correct.
04:10But there's a limited amount
04:11that you can do to resolve.
04:12It's a terrible, terrible dispute,
04:14but it's not Liam Byrne
04:15who gets sorted out.
04:16It's the national government
04:16that should be stepping in.
04:17He should be going round...
04:18A lot of his constituents
04:20have been interviewed
04:20and they actually said today
04:22the only time he's seen him
04:23is at election time
04:24when he's trying to get you a vote.
04:25So he should be there
04:26talking to constituents,
04:28trying to make them feel better about it,
04:30doing stuff in parliament,
04:32rallying behind the scenes.
04:33What is he doing
04:33to try and solve this dispute?
04:35That's what we need to do.
04:36Having a nice holiday in Japan?
04:37The bottom line is now...
04:38No, it is now.
04:39He's extended the parliamentary trip
04:40into a holiday.
04:41I'm meeting in a five-star hotel
04:43paid for by the taxpayer.
04:44I'm not here to defend Liam Byrne.
04:46Well, you are.
04:47I'm here to defend him per se.
04:49I'm here to say
04:50that MPs have different responsibilities
04:52and they can do two things.
04:53And when your city
04:54is under 21,000 tonnes
04:56of rat-fested rubbish,
04:58that's where you should be.
04:59I'm sort of fascinated as well
05:03why you have to go
05:04on a fact-finding mission
05:06in the days of Zoom.
05:07Yeah, yeah, quite.
05:07And, you know,
05:08you can have calls with these people.
05:10If what he's genuinely doing there
05:12is learning about business,
05:14he doesn't need to fly business class,
05:15stay in a five-star hotel,
05:17get swanning around.
05:18I just...
05:18I'm sick of them.
05:19I'm sick of them.
05:20What do you think this bin strike
05:22is doing for the reputation
05:23of Britain's second city?
05:25Well, that is a separate issue.
05:27I completely agree with you.
05:28Film crews are from all around the world.
05:30They can't believe
05:31this is happening in our second city.
05:32It's a total nightmare
05:32and the government needs to be
05:35sort of getting the two sides together
05:37to intervene in this,
05:38to speak absolutely...