Good old blundering Brum does it again!

Sometimes I shake my head in despair at my native city. There are so many good things going on here, so much regeneration which is truly admirable and yet our city officials continue to fall on banana skins which tend to make us look like some rustic amateur council.

The latest of these concerns the new publicity fliers for the city which contain pictures of the Birmingham skyline....and indeed they do.....the skyline of Birmingham, Alabama not Birmingham, England! It is pretty inconceivable how such a careless and stupid error could have been made - but it's not the first time. It has indeed brought Birmingham some publicity, but hardly the sort our city officials must have wanted. I've received e mail from friends in the United States containing attachments from US newspapers reporting on the cock-up. They all think it's a hoot. OK it's pretty minor in the overall scheme of Birmingham council's overall responsibilities, but its the sort of thing that tends to be noticed and makes the city look foolish.




The REAL one..as indicated




A previous one that comes immediately to mind was the loan of the 'Birmingham Eye' from France....and nobody appeared to have spotted, until the Eye became operational, that the audio accompaniment was a tour of Paris! The Eye itself was great but, again, the city's 'ship' was spoiled for a proverbial hap'orth of tar. Nobody thought to check everything properly or ensure that a Birmingham audio was produced. Again we looked stupid.

A few years ago came the act of political lunacy that everyone in the country remembers and sneers about. The proposal by the then Labour council to scrap the Christmas festivities and rename the period 'Winterval' to avoid upsetting ethnic religious and cultural minorities. It was laughed out of court by just about everyone but again the city got a reputation for being governed by well-meaning thick-heads.

Birmingham has always had a civic reputation for a sort of working class prudishness. We have had great art here, the Royal Ballet, one of the finest Symphony Orchestras in the country,a first class Repertory Theatre but one senses that this was despite, rather than because of the mentality of its elected officials. We seem to have an ingrained dull, plodding but rather prudish attitude to anything challenging. Some years ago, I recall, Birmingham acquired, on loan, a prize exhibit of the 'Europa and the Bull' statuette which came close to being withdrawn from display after a female councillor alleged that it was obscene and encouraged bestiality. It is this sort of worthy, plodding, provincial thinking which tends to epitomise the city.

Birmingham tries so hard to look classy and fashionable and, indeed, so much has been done which is admirable regeneration. But you always get the impression that the mentality of the city, of the people who drive its development, lacks any real sophistication or class. The city always reminds me of the working class woman who dresses up in her finest to go shopping in Fortnum and Mason's - but somehow, no matter how much she spends on herself, never quite looks the part.