Birmingham politician agrees with Warwickshire and Coventry Liberal Democrats

Writing on his blog site John Hemming, who until May was the MP for the Birmingham Yardley constituency, backs plans for the Coventry and Warwickshire local authorities to work together. He writes "Warwickshire curls around Coventry and is clearly in the economic city region. It is only people who reside in the Whitehall that believe that Coventry is best placed with Greater Birmingham. City Regions work as units of devolution if they have essentially economic city regions of a city and its travel to work area. Hence Lichfield, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Tamworth and Redditch fit comfortably into the wider Greater Birmingham area, but Coventry does not. It always caused tensions in the past and will continue to undermine the common interest of a Greater Birmingham City Region if it is continued".

From a Rugby point of view the most interesting aspect of John Hemming's posting is that it takes a thoroughly pro-Birmingham viewpoint. John Hemming is saying that it is Birmingham's self interest not to gang-up with Coventry and Warwickshire but allow us to work together.