http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/ Our columnist, The Stirrer campaigns for consumer rights and discusses politics and his pick of the latest news in Birmingham and across the UK. en-gb Birmingham Mail no Our columnist, The Stirrer campaigns for consumer rights and discusses politics and his pick of the latest news in Birmingham and across the UK. The Stirrer, consumer rights, news in Birmingham http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/07/02/gordon-revisits-the-80s-for-solutions-97319-24056540/ Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:05:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/07/02/gordon-revisits-the-80s-for-solutions-97319-24056540/ I NEVER had Gordon Brown marked down as a New Romantic, but I reckon the Prime Minister will be breaking open the eyeliner and donning a frilly shirt any day now. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/25/what-s-worse-the-burqa-or-our-barbie-doll-culture-97319-23973170/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:20:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/25/what-s-worse-the-burqa-or-our-barbie-doll-culture-97319-23973170/ FRANCE’S President Sarkozy was playing to a domestic audience when he called for a ban on the Muslim burqa – but I wouldn’t mind betting he picked up plenty of support on this side of the Channel, too. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/25/what-s-worse-the-burka-or-our-barbie-doll-culture-97319-23967865/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/25/what-s-worse-the-burka-or-our-barbie-doll-culture-97319-23967865/ FRANCE’S President Sarkozy was playing to a domestic audience when he called for a ban on the Muslim burqa – but I wouldn’t mind betting he picked up plenty of support on this side of the Channel, too. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/18/let-siblings-stay-in-their-family-home-97319-23910055/ Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:51:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/18/let-siblings-stay-in-their-family-home-97319-23910055/ HEARTLESS Birmingham housing bosses are planning to evict a brother and sister who have been living in the same house for a combined total of 90 years. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/11/will-olympic-centre-costs-drown-inner-city-pools-97319-23843626/ Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:14:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/11/will-olympic-centre-costs-drown-inner-city-pools-97319-23843626/ BIRMINGHAM City Council’s propaganda machine has been cranking up the excitement for the prestigious new Aquatics and Leisure Centre proposed for Ladywood. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/11/don-t-turn-bnp-into-victims-97319-23843613/ Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:11:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/11/don-t-turn-bnp-into-victims-97319-23843613/ THERE’S a huge irony in the egg throwing antics of Unite Against Fascism who splattered BNP leader Nick Griffin this week. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/04/sting-in-the-tail-at-the-airport-after-a-holiday-in-newquay-97319-23787439/ Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:41:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/04/sting-in-the-tail-at-the-airport-after-a-holiday-in-newquay-97319-23787439/ IT’S not only Westminster politicians who are out to milk the public – their counterparts in Cornwall are at it too. And thousands of people from the West Midlands are victims of their legalised con. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/04/goodbye-to-big-sister-97319-23787433/ Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:39:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/06/04/goodbye-to-big-sister-97319-23787433/ JACQUI Smith will soon be gone, but surely not forgotten after her disastrous stint as Home Secretary. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/21/council-is-waving-white-flag-in-the-planning-battle-97319-23680014/ Thu, 21 May 2009 07:53:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/21/council-is-waving-white-flag-in-the-planning-battle-97319-23680014/ SO it’s official then. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/21/blunt-sex-advice-is-answer-97319-23680008/ Thu, 21 May 2009 07:51:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/21/blunt-sex-advice-is-answer-97319-23680008/ IT’S emerged that 13-year-old Alfie Patten hasn’t fathered a child with 15-year-old Chantelle Stedman after all. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/14/cynical-cost-cutting-turns-day-care-into-nightmare-97319-23621567/ Thu, 14 May 2009 08:15:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/14/cynical-cost-cutting-turns-day-care-into-nightmare-97319-23621567/ DOES anyone really think pulling down the shutters on a couple of day care centres in Birmingham will really improve the lives of the people who go there? The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/14/why-fry-s-got-it-wrong-97319-23621563/ Thu, 14 May 2009 08:13:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/14/why-fry-s-got-it-wrong-97319-23621563/ PAMPERED luvvy Stephen Fry has condemned the nation’s “bourgeois” obsession with MPs’ expenses. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/why-shouldn-t-team-of-true-talents-run-brum-97319-23565961/ Thu, 07 May 2009 08:25:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/why-shouldn-t-team-of-true-talents-run-brum-97319-23565961/ IT’S not quite in the same league as Ricky Hatton versus Manny Pacquiao, but Birmingham faces its own bruising punch-up in ten days’ time. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/smuggle-drugs-at-your-peril-97319-23565956/ Thu, 07 May 2009 08:24:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/smuggle-drugs-at-your-peril-97319-23565956/ Samanatha Orabator, the pregnant British woman accused of drug smuggling in Laos, will now apparently escape execution by firing squad even if she’s found guilty. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/why-shouldn-t-a-team-of-all-the-talents-run-birmingham-97319-23559898/ Wed, 06 May 2009 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/why-shouldn-t-a-team-of-all-the-talents-run-birmingham-97319-23559898/ IT’S not quite in the same league as Ricky Hatton versus Manny Pacquiao, but Birmingham faces its own bruising punch-up in ten days’ time. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/smuggle-drugs-at-your-peril-97319-23559900/ Wed, 06 May 2009 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/05/07/smuggle-drugs-at-your-peril-97319-23559900/ Samanatha Orabator, the pregnant British woman accused of drug smuggling in Laos, will now apparently escape execution by firing squad even if she’s found guilty. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/30/don-t-count-our-olympic-chickens-until-they-hatch-97319-23510604/ Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:51:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/30/don-t-count-our-olympic-chickens-until-they-hatch-97319-23510604/ WHEN it comes to the 2012 Olympics, Birmingham is going for gold. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/16/taxpayers-fork-out-for-cemetery-homes-row-97319-23400017/ Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:51:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/16/taxpayers-fork-out-for-cemetery-homes-row-97319-23400017/ TWO senior Birmingham councillors are at war over plans to build a housing estate on a city graveyard. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/16/muck-flying-everywhere-97319-23400012/ Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:50:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/16/muck-flying-everywhere-97319-23400012/ HOW ironic that West Bromwich MP Tom Watson should have found himself on the receiving end of tabloid tittle tattle over his alleged involvement in a plot to smear the Tory party. The Stirrer http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/09/bringing-back-pride-to-neighbourhoods-97319-23350793/ Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:15:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/04/09/bringing-back-pride-to-neighbourhoods-97319-23350793/ BARMY Sandwell resident Chris Reilly wants his local council taken over by Birmingham – and has even set up a Downing Street petition to win support for the idea. The Stirrer