Five surreal moments Birmingham bin strike fears cast shadow over meeting

Tuesday, April 8, marked the first full council meeting since a major incident was declared as mountains of rubbish and overflowing bins became common sights across the city.

The strike was triggered by a dispute between the council and Unite, with the union saying plans to scrap a Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role would force “dedicated workers onto pay levels barely above the minimum wage”.

However, the council’s political leadership has insisted that a “fair and reasonable offer” has been made and that “not a single worker needs to lose a penny”.

The local authority has said progress is being made with collecting the waste currently blighting the city as more trucks are now able to leave the depots.

But it’s still a turbulent and worrying time for Birmingham, as this week’s full council meeting showed.

Here are some of the most dramatic moments from the meeting – from a man dressed as a rat to a councillor quitting the Labour Party.

1) ‘Rat’ quizzes bins boss

One of the most surprising moments of the afternoon came when a cabinet member was asked a question by a man dressed a rat in the public gallery.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) before the meeting got under way, the ‘rat’ remained in character and said he was grateful for the bins chaos.

“They [the council] have done this for the rats – it’s amazing,” he said. “I want it to continue.

“We need to continue to leave the bins out so my family can feed.

“Selly Oak has a huge amount of rubbish especially from students and it means all my relatives can feed in a way that means we can go around and rampage in the streets – it’s great.”

During public questions, the man behind the rodent asked Councillor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment, when the rat population will decline and when streets will return to an “acceptable state”.

2) Thousands of tonnes of waste collected

In response to the rat’s question, Councillor Mahmood said he understood and sympathised with residents’ frustrations and that’s why a major incident was declared.

He praised West Midlands Police for their help in ensuring trucks could leave depots “unhindered”, which he said had a “significant impact” on the council’s ability to deploy vehicles to collect waste.

“Over the weekend, 1,900 tonnes were collected and yesterday a further 1,600 tonnes were collected,” he continued.

Coun Mahmood added it was now expected the council would be able to achieve the objective of one residual waste collection per week for each household as part of its contingency plan.

“Events of the last few weeks have resulted in a backlog of waste, some of which has emerged as fly-tips,” he said. “To help tackle this backlog, we have redirected street cleaning and grounds maintenance operational resource.

“It is anticipated it will take several days to clear the backlog and we will work tirelessly to achieve this goal.

“It would be improper to be specific about the precise number of days at this stage but we are doing everything within our gift to tackle this problem.”

3) Councillor quits Labour Party over ‘rat tax’

The meeting also saw a Birmingham councillor confirm she had quit the Labour Party over the council’s pest control charge for rats, dubbed a ‘rat tax’ by critics.

Sam Forsyth, who represents Quinton, told the council chamber: “My opposition to the introduction of that charge is well-known.

“I oppose that charge and as of ten minutes ago, I am no longer a member of the Labour Party.”

The council’s unprecedented budget last year included plans to introduce new pest control charges for ‘rat in garden and rat in house treatments’ – a service which was previously free.

Councillor Forsyth, who defied the city council’s Labour leadership and voted against this year’s budget, spoke out against the charge earlier in 2025, saying: “For what I hope are obvious reasons, nobody wishes to see this city overrun with rats.”

“The council continues to treat for rats for a contributory fee,” a spokesperson for the council said recently. “This is far less than the cost to deliver the service and that charged by some neighbouring local authorities.

“People can also purchase and treat themselves, as supplies are readily available in shops and online.”

The pest control charge for rats remains free for Birmingham City Council tenants.

4) Resident’s plea after ‘rat chews through car wires’

Amid anger over the bins strike, Liberal Democrat Councillor Zaker Choudhry, who represents South Yardley, read out an email from one of his residents.

It read: “Zaker, is there anything you can do about the collection of rubbish on our road?

“Only asking because I am very annoyed with Birmingham City Council.

“I have just had to pay out £296 because rats had gone into my [car] engine bay and chewed three wires.

“This situation needs urgent attention.”

Councillor Choudhry added that rats were “running on the roads at their own will”.

5) ‘City’s reputation is being destroyed’

Robert Alden, leader of the Conservative group at the council, took a swipe at the authority’s Labour administration, saying: “The reputation of the city is being destroyed.”

He went on to urge council leader John Cotton to “bring all the leaders of this council to work together to fix the city from the mess that his Labour administration has made.”

Coun Cotton fired back: “I think I’ll step away from the heated rhetoric we saw there and focus on the realities of what we’re seeking to do to address a very serious situation in this city.

“The declaration of the major incident has enabled us to work more closely with partners to mobilise contingency arrangements to ensure wagons are leaving depots.”