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Council pays lip service to our unreliable buses

REG Varney used to make millions laugh as star of TV’s On The Buses – but how we could do with a few more inspectors like his old boss Blakey to get things moving now.Read

Cutbacks that dare not speak their name

SINCE warning last week that three Birmingham libraries face the risk of closure, I’ve come in for a full frontal assault from city bigwigs accusing me of “scaremongering”.Read

Brummies would relish chance to say thanks

GOOD luck to the Queens Royal Hussars, the Iraq War veterans who will get a parade in Birmingham after discovering they aren’t welcome in Belfast.Read

Clean Dwain a role model

AM I alone in thinking that drugs cheat Dwain Chambers, should be considered a national hero?Read

Ticket office closures put railway travellers at risk

RAIL operator London Midland has been accused of cheating taxpayers and putting passengers at risk by shutting dozens of ticket offices at stations across the region.Read

Charity should begin at home in a time of crisis

They say charity begins at home. Not in Britain it doesn’t.Read

Watch for the hidden tax

Why are local councils playing silly beggars over council tax increases?Read

Jewish understanding for Gaza war graffiti

THE Muslim graffiti artist whose controversial pro-Palestinian wall painting was destroyed on police orders in Birmingham last week has won support from an unlikely source – the city’s leading voice on Jewish affairs.Read

Synthetic tears for Goody

THE plight of terminally ill Jade Goody can’t fail to arouse sympathy, but am I the only one sickened by how her final days on earth are being played out in front of TV cameras and tabloid newspapers?Read

Carl’s killer must be found to lift cloud of suspicion

AFTER serving 19 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Vincent Hickey is no longer behind bars – but he’ll never be a free man until the legal system finally admits he’s “not guilty” of killing tragic newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater.Read

Venting anger through art

COLOURFUL murals drawing attention to the plight of the people of Gaza have started cropping up in inner city Birmingham recently – and not everyone is impressed.Read

It’s not rosy for mum after council advice

BIRMINGHAM Council’s hard working trading standards unit is forever issuing alerts about rogue traders and dodgy business practices.Read

It’s not as E-asy as all that

ANYONE for a ban on horse-riding? I thought not.Read

Council approach plays into hands of Far Right

WEST Brom’s St George’s Day Parade is the biggest in the country, attracting 15,000 revellers from across Birmingham, the Black Country and beyond who want to peacefully celebrate their Englishness.Read

Pub bombers are quids in

ROLL up, roll up for the Great Birmingham Pub Bombings Lottery.Read

ALL our MPs should reveal their expenses

Gordon Brown’s humiliating U-turn on publishing MPs’ expenses this week is being spun as an example of parliamentary “openness” – our elected representatives apparently can’t wait to tell us exactly how they spend our money.Read

Flabby failure to get us off the sofa

CASH-guzzling quango Sport England devours more than £250 million of taxpayers’ cash each year, yet it has failed to stop the West Midlands becoming the laziest part of the country.Read

Royals are out of touch

THE row over comments made by Princes Charles and Harry this week doesn’t necessarily prove they are racist – but it does demonstrate how out of touch they are with the rest of us.Read

Ministry officials’ hefty blow to library plans

CAMPAIGNERS battling to save Birmingham Central Library are scenting victory after government officials declared it can’t be bulldozed simply because it’s rundown.Read

No home for hatred here

Israel’s attacks on Gaza have stirred up fury on the streets of Birmingham, with hundreds of protesters locked out of a meeting at the Council House on Monday night.Read