Rishi Sunak blasts Labour-led Birmingham City Council for 'woefully mismanaged' finances
Watch ITV News Central's Political Correspondent Alison Mackenzie's interview with the Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak has hit out against Birmingham City Council’s poor finances, telling ITV News that it is down to the Labour-majority council's "woeful" mismanagement.
It comes as Birmingham City Council effectively declared itself bankrupt, again last week, and questions continue to loom over whether the council will sell assets to balance the books.
Speaking to ITV News Central’s Political Correspondent Alison Mackenzie, the prime minister argued the amount of cash Birmingham City Council has to spend has actually increased to 10.5 percent.
Mr Sunak was also quick to criticise the Labour-run council's handling of Birmingham and praised West Midlands mayor Andy Street.
He said: "It’s a Labour-run council, it’s been woefully mismanaged financially, and that’s why we’re in the situation that we’re in - that’s nothing to do with the Conservative Government, we’ve got a fantastic Mayor of the West Midlands”.
When asked by ITV News Central about Conservative-run Derbyshire County Council, and its financial troubles, Mr Sunak responded with: "I think that it's important that councils everywhere are being responsive and looking after their finances properly.
"But I think Birmingham is a very high-profile, signature case of mismanagement of one of our premium cities by the Labour Party, and it's an example of what happens when Labour are in power."
Last week, Birmingham councillors voted to accept the Section 114 notice issued on 5 September, to support the financial recovery plan set out by the chief executive, and to uphold spending control measures until a budget is approved.
The Leader of Birmingham City Council apologised to "the people of Birmingham", following the authority's effective declaration of bankruptcy.
Councillor John Cotton said "sorry" to the public who are living through "worrying times".
"This council is at a crossroads. It has been an incredibly tough month for the people of this council and I apologise to the people of Birmingham, our staff and our partners across this city that we are faced with such stark choices.
"Tonight's meeting must be the start of our recovery. This must be a reset and rebuild moment for Birmingham and we must work together to bring about lasting and positive change for our residents, stakeholders and the communities we serve."
In what was a wide-ranging interview, the prime minister also confirmed his plans to go ahead with the ban of the XL Bully dog, as he is working through the finer detail of the legislature with experts.
Talking about the ban, the Prime Minister expressed his solidarity with the victims of recent dog attacks in the Midlands and insisted that: "American XL Bully dogs do pose a danger to communities and to public safety and that’s why we’ve taken action, and it’s right that we have done so.
"But with this breed, it does pose a danger, it's right that we take action, and that's what we're doing, working with the experts and the police to define the breed. And then before the end of the year we'll have new laws in place."
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