The commissioners brought in to oversee Birmingham City Council finances are thinking the unthinkable to restore the massive deficit in the city’s finances. They have interest from several parties to buy the canals. Other assets are at risk.
Birmingham City Council effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023. This was due to equal pay claims of up to £760m and an £80m overspend on a troubled IT system. The government appointed commissioners are charged with taking a ruthless approach to bringing Birmingham’s finances back into the black.
One of the assets that is not considered critical is the canal system. Birmingham has 35 miles of canals. Anyone who has been to Birmingham will have been on the receiving end of a Brummie trying to impress people with fact that there are more canals in Birmingham than in Venice. So what? There is probably more paint in the Erdington branch of B & Q than on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Doesn’t mean they are equivalent.
Several bidders are interested in the canal system. Venice want to buy it and fill it in because they are pissed off with Brummies going to Venice and saying, “Do yow know Brummagem as got more canals?”. Another potential buyer is Kuwait who just want the water. Possibly they haven’t seen the state of it. Bizarrely Morrisons are also interested. They think there might be enough shopping trollies in the canals to make it profitable.
The Town Hall
Greece has put in an offer on this popular concert and event location. They have indicated that they just want to ship it to Athens to annoy the English.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Estonia is thought to be interested in this building. They think it will make an attractive little parliament building.