Former Editor of The Sun Kelvin Mackenzie has launched a scathing attack on Birmingham MP Tahir Ali, as the city's representative remains silent on the bin crisis.Birmingham residents are facing severe disruption from ongoing bin strikes, with waste piling up across the city's streets - and experts have now warned of a health crisis as temperatures begin to rise in Britain.FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00Well, it's a disgrace, but actually, the quietest man in this dispute is actually the MP, Tahir
00:08Ali, who actually has raised a number of points in Parliament, Gaza, arms to Israel, he was
00:15against it, and something about telegraph poles.
00:18But the one thing he hasn't spoken about, even although Spark Group is up to its neck
00:22in rubbish throughout the whole of his constituency, he's never spoken about this dispute.
00:28And do you know why he's never spoken about this dispute?
00:31Why, Calvin?
00:34Because he was a former employee of Unite, the union that is bringing this great city
00:41to its knees and supplying it with health issues.
00:44And also he has received a donation in his time for his political ambitions to be the
00:50MP for that area.
00:51How disgraceful is that?
00:52This is a collision of Labour, Labour against the very voters who put them in.
00:59Why isn't this MP speaking for them?
01:02Because he's more scared of Unite than he is scared of his own voters.
01:07And I hope they have retribution on him in 2029 and throw him out.
01:12You make a good point.
01:13And just shortly before I came on air, there's a clip of Tahir Ali speaking in the House
01:17of Commons, I believe today, Calvin, yet again banging on about an airport in rural Pakistan,
01:23in Mirpur.
01:24In fact, he calls out other MPs for criticising him for talking about it.
01:32I mean, grief.
01:33I mean, from where he was, is he the MP for Mirpur or is he the MP for a part of rat infested
01:40Birmingham?
01:42I do hope that the voters in his constituency remember this, that actually the rubbish in
01:47their high street was of no interest to him, to spreading it in the Commons and be against
01:52it.
01:53Right.
01:54But actually, what was going on in Pakistan, whether there was an airport there or not,
01:57may be of interest to a small percentage because actually his constituency is only 10% Muslim.
02:03So I'm puzzled as to how, where the leverage came from that 10% to do something, which
02:09the 100% who are totally against this strike couldn't get it done.
02:14You know, honestly, it is enormously frustrating.
02:17But this kind of collision goes on left, right and centre because I see that the fire union
02:22has now come out in quotes, solidarity with the dustbin men.
02:27Our country is run by the trade union movement, whether it's doctors or whether it's firemen
02:34or it's these revolting bin men.
02:37They don't give a damn about anything.
02:39They don't care about the very voters who put them into power.
02:42Well, Sahir Ali is clearly not here to defend himself.
02:45However, I don't see how necessarily you can.
02:49I mean, if currently the streets are lined with rubbish...
02:52Why doesn't he just say, actually, I would like the bin men to go back to work and actually
02:57clear the streets of a massive health hazard for all my constituents?
03:02He doesn't say it because he's in the pocket of Unite.
03:06That is his problem.
03:07But actually, more importantly, it is our problem as voters.
03:11And this will be going on all over the country when there's a collision between, for instance,
03:16Angela Rayner.
03:17She's sponsored by Unite.
03:19So what is she going to do?
03:20She's going to push through an employment law, which will mean that many small businesses
03:24will either go to the wall or find it impossible to get rid of people.
03:28It is one of the great scandals.
03:31They talk about the wealthy giving money to the Tories.
03:34Actually, the Labour Party would not exist without trade union funds.
03:38And Tahir Ali is a shocking example of that.
03:41OK, well, Kelvin, thank you very much this evening.
03:43Tremendous, as always, to have you on the show.
03:45Kelvin McKenzie there, former editor of The Sun.
03:46I will say it again, Tahir Ali, of course, is not here to defend himself.
03:50I am going to his constituency tomorrow to have a look at this bin disaster.
03:53It will be fascinating to see whether or not his constituents are more in favour of bin
03:59collections or an airport in Mirpur.