Brandwood, on the southern edge of Birmingham, had a rare five minutes of fame at the weekend when it was revealed, allegedly, as one of Britain’s worst “welfare ghettos” where more than half of adults are out of work and claiming benefit.
That would be an appalling state of affairs if it was true. After all, there are 18,000 people living in Brandwood which would mean that 9,000-plus are propping up the local job centre.
In fact the claim by the Centre for Social Justice that 60 per cent of Brandwood’s working age population is unemployed and on benefit begins to look increasingly dodgy when scrutinised.
A brief period of silence may have given the impression that opposing sides in the War of the Wheelie Bins have fought each other to stalemate.
