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| Birmingham: 'Each year the benefit system is more heartless' | Birmingham: 'Each year the benefit system is more heartless' |
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| In 2010, when David Cameron launched his “big society” project in Liverpool, he talked a lot about empowering communities. The idea, he said, was “a deep, serious reform agenda to take power away from politicians and give it to people”. But then austerity took the big society’s place as the government’s defining idea, and the phrase disappeared from the party’s literature. It was dismissed as an “enormous failure”. | In 2010, when David Cameron launched his “big society” project in Liverpool, he talked a lot about empowering communities. The idea, he said, was “a deep, serious reform agenda to take power away from politicians and give it to people”. But then austerity took the big society’s place as the government’s defining idea, and the phrase disappeared from the party’s literature. It was dismissed as an “enormous failure”. |
| Seven years on from that launch, on a sunny afternoon 100 miles south of Liverpool, Cameron’s big idea is reluctantly being reheated in a Labour heartland. Today’s “empowered community”, as Cameron would have it, are the leaders and volunteers of the many churches and mosques in Erdington, a Birmingham suburb. They might wish they didn’t have to, but they are helping to meet the needs of some of the most impoverished people in society. | Seven years on from that launch, on a sunny afternoon 100 miles south of Liverpool, Cameron’s big idea is reluctantly being reheated in a Labour heartland. Today’s “empowered community”, as Cameron would have it, are the leaders and volunteers of the many churches and mosques in Erdington, a Birmingham suburb. They might wish they didn’t have to, but they are helping to meet the needs of some of the most impoverished people in society. |
| Rev Gerard Goshawk invites me into the Six Ways Baptist church. It is peaceful, and there are no interruptions, but this is unusual, he says. Most days the church doubles up as an English-language college with free classes for immigrants, is home to one of the busiest food banks in the city and holds numerous other classes in a bid to get the community to engage with each other. It is a similar story across the suburb. | Rev Gerard Goshawk invites me into the Six Ways Baptist church. It is peaceful, and there are no interruptions, but this is unusual, he says. Most days the church doubles up as an English-language college with free classes for immigrants, is home to one of the busiest food banks in the city and holds numerous other classes in a bid to get the community to engage with each other. It is a similar story across the suburb. |
| Goshawk says he works with local imams and church leaders to “prop up a failing system”. The 53-year-old, who has lived in Erdington for the past decade and has a mainly African-Caribbean congregation, will not reveal his political affiliations, but talks of how the voluntary sector in recent years has been forced to step in because of harsh austerity cuts in his community. | Goshawk says he works with local imams and church leaders to “prop up a failing system”. The 53-year-old, who has lived in Erdington for the past decade and has a mainly African-Caribbean congregation, will not reveal his political affiliations, but talks of how the voluntary sector in recent years has been forced to step in because of harsh austerity cuts in his community. |
| “We are Christians and we can’t just stand by and do nothing,” Goshawk says. “Each year the benefit system is more heartless in the way that it deals with individuals with an economy that has shifted and left people feeling quite disempowered and left behind. In that sense we are filling a gap and providing for people’s basic needs. | “We are Christians and we can’t just stand by and do nothing,” Goshawk says. “Each year the benefit system is more heartless in the way that it deals with individuals with an economy that has shifted and left people feeling quite disempowered and left behind. In that sense we are filling a gap and providing for people’s basic needs. |
| “Before I became a minister I was a nurse and then in the voluntary sector. It’s the essential problem of any voluntary sector organisation that you end up propping up a system that is wrong, and trying to make it easier.” | “Before I became a minister I was a nurse and then in the voluntary sector. It’s the essential problem of any voluntary sector organisation that you end up propping up a system that is wrong, and trying to make it easier.” |
| In an election season, one question looms above all others: who is responsible for the problem? Goshawk is unsure. The answer is complicated, and the answer constituents settle on may prove vital to the area’s political future. | In an election season, one question looms above all others: who is responsible for the problem? Goshawk is unsure. The answer is complicated, and the answer constituents settle on may prove vital to the area’s political future. |
| On one hand, Erdington comes under the umbrella of Birmingham City council, which is Labour. On the other, its three local councillors, Bob Beauchamp, Gareth Moore and Robert Alden, are all Conservatives. Alden is standing against the current Labour MP, Jack Dromey, the husband of former interim party leader Harriet Harman. And, of course, the government is Conservative. | On one hand, Erdington comes under the umbrella of Birmingham City council, which is Labour. On the other, its three local councillors, Bob Beauchamp, Gareth Moore and Robert Alden, are all Conservatives. Alden is standing against the current Labour MP, Jack Dromey, the husband of former interim party leader Harriet Harman. And, of course, the government is Conservative. |
| So what do Erdingtonians do? Vote Conservative despite the current government announcing £43m cuts to Birmingham council’s funding in 2015? Or stay loyal to the Labour candidate who some feel is “struggling to affect change in the area”? | So what do Erdingtonians do? Vote Conservative despite the current government announcing £43m cuts to Birmingham council’s funding in 2015? Or stay loyal to the Labour candidate who some feel is “struggling to affect change in the area”? |
| Whatever the answer, the softly spoken Goshawk, who has previously worked as a nurse and in the voluntary sector, is certain he has work to do. After the Brexit vote (Erdington voted 63% in favour of leave) he was the minister who heard one leave voter give a withering verdict of the area on TV. He was outraged and decided to show that the community was not as divided as it was being portrayed. The result was #EverythingErdington, a community celebration that culminated in more than 100 people from many of the town’s nationalities holding hands along the high street in a show of solidarity. | Whatever the answer, the softly spoken Goshawk, who has previously worked as a nurse and in the voluntary sector, is certain he has work to do. After the Brexit vote (Erdington voted 63% in favour of leave) he was the minister who heard one leave voter give a withering verdict of the area on TV. He was outraged and decided to show that the community was not as divided as it was being portrayed. The result was #EverythingErdington, a community celebration that culminated in more than 100 people from many of the town’s nationalities holding hands along the high street in a show of solidarity. |
| Just a few minutes’ walk and we are in Oikos, another church – although that’s just a small part of its colourful story. This one doubles up as the area’s only up-and-coming restaurant. It is evening on the high street – deserted apart from the odd afternoon drinker making their way into one of the pubs. The exodus of big brand stores and independent shops is a constant gripe for locals. But there is a buzz here at Oikos. Something different is at play. | Just a few minutes’ walk and we are in Oikos, another church – although that’s just a small part of its colourful story. This one doubles up as the area’s only up-and-coming restaurant. It is evening on the high street – deserted apart from the odd afternoon drinker making their way into one of the pubs. The exodus of big brand stores and independent shops is a constant gripe for locals. But there is a buzz here at Oikos. Something different is at play. |
| Oikos, which means “home” in Greek, was opened three years ago by evangelical pastor Jez Dearing. We meet just before an open mic night to raise funds for mental health charity Birmingham Mind. | Oikos, which means “home” in Greek, was opened three years ago by evangelical pastor Jez Dearing. We meet just before an open mic night to raise funds for mental health charity Birmingham Mind. |
| Dearing, 43, sits down with a flat white and handmade shortbread, opposite walls adorned in broken down wooden pallets and shelves displaying works by local artists. This is a very different Erdington, says Dearing, one that appeals to the forgotten demographic in the area, the young working families and twentysomethings who want “nice places to eat, sit and meet each other”. | Dearing, 43, sits down with a flat white and handmade shortbread, opposite walls adorned in broken down wooden pallets and shelves displaying works by local artists. This is a very different Erdington, says Dearing, one that appeals to the forgotten demographic in the area, the young working families and twentysomethings who want “nice places to eat, sit and meet each other”. |
| But this is not just another trendy place to eat. Like Goshawk, Dearing – a father-of-two whose wife is a local mental health nurse – saw a need in the area for those who were the most impoverished, and a need that was not being fulfilled by the public sector. | But this is not just another trendy place to eat. Like Goshawk, Dearing – a father-of-two whose wife is a local mental health nurse – saw a need in the area for those who were the most impoverished, and a need that was not being fulfilled by the public sector. |
| Originally from the Forest of Dean, Dearing initially moved to Erdington because of its cheaper house prices, but 18 years later he is still here. In 2011, he entered negotiations with a private landlord to acquire the building, an eyesore that had been closed for 12 years. He spent every evening and weekend renovating the building with a band of volunteers running electricity cables and plumbing in kitchens. | Originally from the Forest of Dean, Dearing initially moved to Erdington because of its cheaper house prices, but 18 years later he is still here. In 2011, he entered negotiations with a private landlord to acquire the building, an eyesore that had been closed for 12 years. He spent every evening and weekend renovating the building with a band of volunteers running electricity cables and plumbing in kitchens. |
| “It was most definitely a labour of love,” he says. “But I had to do something. Every day I would walk past this building – it was so run down. I wanted to do something good for Erdington. I love Erdington and wanted to bring new life to the high street. We had the opportunity to be a forerunner.” | “It was most definitely a labour of love,” he says. “But I had to do something. Every day I would walk past this building – it was so run down. I wanted to do something good for Erdington. I love Erdington and wanted to bring new life to the high street. We had the opportunity to be a forerunner.” |
| Dearing isn’t sure who is most to blame for the problems in the area: he describes himself as disenfranchised, and says he is “on the fence” about the election. But it would be a mistake to see this as a lack of interest. His cafe provides more than just a brief beacon in an army of closed shops: he is also being called on to offer English language classes, apprenticeships, curry nights, knitting groups and board game clubs. He wants to build a communal kitchen and run cookery courses to skill up the jobless. | |
| “I guess if we didn’t do it then it just wouldn’t happen,” he says. | “I guess if we didn’t do it then it just wouldn’t happen,” he says. |
| Musicians from across the city and from a spectrum of backgrounds bustle into the cafe as locals and others who have come from further afield settle in for a night of poetry and music. During a break between a rap solo and a rapturous ukulele performance, teacher Dan Mandley, 35, reflects on the political moment. | Musicians from across the city and from a spectrum of backgrounds bustle into the cafe as locals and others who have come from further afield settle in for a night of poetry and music. During a break between a rap solo and a rapturous ukulele performance, teacher Dan Mandley, 35, reflects on the political moment. |
| Mandley, whose wife runs the English classes at the cafe, reddens slightly and shifts uncomfortably in his seat when asked who he will vote for. There is a long pause. Eventually he says that he will vote Tory, for only the second time since he was 18. | Mandley, whose wife runs the English classes at the cafe, reddens slightly and shifts uncomfortably in his seat when asked who he will vote for. There is a long pause. Eventually he says that he will vote Tory, for only the second time since he was 18. |
| “I voted to remain because the Polish immigration to this area has been one of the best things that could have happened to it,” he says. But unlike most people in the area, his outlook is more national than local. “Now we are where we are, and as painful as it is I will probably vote Tory. I am traditionally a Labour voter but I feel Theresa May is more of a steady hand for Brexit negotiations.” | “I voted to remain because the Polish immigration to this area has been one of the best things that could have happened to it,” he says. But unlike most people in the area, his outlook is more national than local. “Now we are where we are, and as painful as it is I will probably vote Tory. I am traditionally a Labour voter but I feel Theresa May is more of a steady hand for Brexit negotiations.” |
| In 2015 Dromey won Erdington with a 5,129 majority. Optimists see this as a healthy margin – but there are those who believe Dromey is in “the fight of his life”. | In 2015 Dromey won Erdington with a 5,129 majority. Optimists see this as a healthy margin – but there are those who believe Dromey is in “the fight of his life”. |
| The constituency lies in between Edgbaston and Northfield, which have also become battlegrounds for the two main parties. Further clarifying the battle ahead, Ukip have announced that they will not be putting up a candidate in Erdington this time: even though they secured a healthy 6,040 votes at the last general election, they have asked voters in the area to vote tactically and support the Conservatives to keep out a Labour government on 8 June. | The constituency lies in between Edgbaston and Northfield, which have also become battlegrounds for the two main parties. Further clarifying the battle ahead, Ukip have announced that they will not be putting up a candidate in Erdington this time: even though they secured a healthy 6,040 votes at the last general election, they have asked voters in the area to vote tactically and support the Conservatives to keep out a Labour government on 8 June. |
| Even if the options have reduced, the choice remains a difficult one. In a district torn over its political affiliations, and where the voluntary sector is having to take up the slack caused by austerity, immigration and low wages, no one quite knows what will happen: blame the national government, or make the local MP pay the price? | Even if the options have reduced, the choice remains a difficult one. In a district torn over its political affiliations, and where the voluntary sector is having to take up the slack caused by austerity, immigration and low wages, no one quite knows what will happen: blame the national government, or make the local MP pay the price? |
| Goshawk vocalises the difficult choice ahead: “What we are here is part of the essential role of any religious organisation, but the danger is that we end up doing the dirty work for the government. | Goshawk vocalises the difficult choice ahead: “What we are here is part of the essential role of any religious organisation, but the danger is that we end up doing the dirty work for the government. |
| “I don’t see it as a triumph, it’s a tragedy and a shame that we are having to do that. There is a general societal need to provide for each other. To me, it is a sign of failure that we are having to do this. Where the blame for that gets lodged is complicated in somewhere like Erdington where we have a Conservative government, a Labour council, and Labour MP.” | “I don’t see it as a triumph, it’s a tragedy and a shame that we are having to do that. There is a general societal need to provide for each other. To me, it is a sign of failure that we are having to do this. Where the blame for that gets lodged is complicated in somewhere like Erdington where we have a Conservative government, a Labour council, and Labour MP.” |
| • Do you live in Erdington? Help shape this reporting by letting us know which issues are important this election | • Do you live in Erdington? Help shape this reporting by letting us know which issues are important this election |