'Dying days of Rome' jibe amid council tensions

OPPOSITION SAY LABOUR WILL SUFFER AT POLLS

- ALEXANDER BROCK

THE bleak situation at Birmingham City Council has been compared to the “dying days of Rome” as tensions build ahead of elections next year.

A critical meeting last week saw councillors vote to approve the proposed 2025/26 budget, which includes a raft of cuts to services and another council tax increase.

The impacts of the financial woes are far-reaching, affecting bin collections, arts and culture, libraries, parks, street lighting, adult social care day centres, services for vulnerable teenagers and much more.

It is the Labour-run authority's second budget since the authority declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023.

The city has been in the grip of a bin strike since January.