Birmingham Local Conservatives this week condemned the Labour government and Council Leader John Cotton for their refusal to launch a local inquiry into Birmingham City Council’s financial meltdown, accusing both of a coordinated cover-up to shield Labour from scrutiny. The government’s decision to abandon a promised inquiry - pledged by the previous Conservative administration - coupled with Cotton’s backtrack on his own commitment, exposes a blatant attempt to protect a failing Labour council and evade responsibility for years of mismanagement.
When John Cotton assumed leadership in May 2023, he promised a transparent inquiry into the council’s finances, including Equal Pay. Yet, after initially claiming he couldn’t proceed due to reliance on a government-led probe, he now refuses to act independently despite the government’s retreat.
Councillor Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley) Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group said:
“This U-turn reeks of cowardice and a desperate bid to bury the truth—especially as the city grapples with a bin strike echoing the chaos of 2017. With all out elections for the city council next year, they are looking for any place to hide.”
The 2017 strike, mishandled by Labour, birthed a potential £760 million equal pay liability through a botched deal that allegedly enriched male-dominated bin roles while ignoring female workers - a scandal Local Conservatives warned about at the time. Auditors, lawyers, and unions sounded the alarm, but Labour ploughed ahead, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Now, with Labour scrambling to find a deal to end the current dispute, both the government and Cotton seem to fear an inquiry could expose how their past failures fuel today’s crisis and risk new equal pay claims if other staff, especially in female-dominated sectors, are shortchanged.
Councillor Ewan Mackey added:
“Labour’s government is shielding their local cronies while John Cotton hides behind excuses, terrified of what an inquiry might reveal. The 2017 strike’s equal pay disaster is their dirty secret, and they’re petrified it’ll unravel again with any deal to end the current strikes. Residents deserve answers, not a Labour stitch-up. We demand an independent inquiry now - let sunlight be the disinfectant.”
Councillor Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley) Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group said:
“Birmingham’s people are suffering, rats roam streets, rubbish piles up, and services crumble, all while Labour duck accountability. The Conservatives call on the government and council to stop protecting their own brand and face the music. Anything less is a betrayal of our city.”
As well as Equal Pay, the Inquiry was also intended to look at other issues that have led to Labour’s bankruptcy, including the botched implementation of Oracle that has overspent by £90m and crippled the council’s financial controls. A recent report from the District Auditors was used by Cllr Cotton as a reason a further inquiry was not necessary, despite that report explicitly stating its limited scope including the exclusion of a “comprehensive review of evidence of assessment of whether the acts or omissions of any person or body mightamount to non-compliance with laws of regulations or whether any possible offences may be made out…such as misfeasance in public office.”
Cllr Mackey added:
“In what is a long catalogue of crises inflicted on this city by Birmingham Labour, there is one common theme: a refusal to take responsibility or to be honest. With trust in politics at an all time low, their actions are adding to the sense that they are only interesting in protecting their own brand, and their government will back them every step of the way in doing so.”
