00:00Britain's second biggest city has effectively declared itself bankrupt this week.
00:05All of that is closed, no information, no phone number to call, nothing.
00:09Birmingham waste piling high, bins overflowing.
00:13It's terrible, the disease and the rats are plaguing the city now.
00:17There is an ongoing bin strike that has left the city looking like a giant rubbish dump.
00:21Putrid biohazard.
00:23Nous sommes en grève depuis 13 mois.
00:32Les habitants de Birmingham ont de quoi être en colère.
00:36Cela fait deux ans que leur ville dirigée par les travaillistes est insolvable et qu'elle enchaîne les coupes budgétaires.
00:49Et pour eux, c'est la faute de cet homme.
00:51Les britanniques le surnomment Max La Hache.
00:56Parce que sa spécialité, c'est de trancher dans le vif des finances publiques.
00:59Mais lui définit sa méthode un peu autrement.
01:10Bon, avant que Max ne vise l'emploi de qui que ce soit, reprenons.
01:14Après Londres, la plus grosse ville du Royaume-Uni, c'est donc Birmingham.
01:25Plus d'un million d'habitants, 2,4 si on parle de son agglomération.
01:29Pourtant, en septembre 2023, Birmingham a été forcé par le gouvernement à restructurer ses services publics.
01:35Et même à vendre des bâtiments aux enchères, comme le terrain de ce McDonald's situé près d'un rond-point stratégique.
01:45Eh bien, c'est un peu ce qui nous a intrigués aux Parisiens.
01:48Comment une ville aussi importante que Birmingham a pu en arriver là ?
01:51Déjà, elle a été condamnée à payer près de 800 millions d'euros d'indemnités pour les milliers de femmes qui étaient employées à des salaires plus bas que leurs homologues masculins.
01:59Ensuite, le conseil municipal a voulu changer de logiciel de comptabilité pour passer à un système qui porte le doux nom de Oracle Cloud Fusion.
02:19Donc, si on devait résumer...
02:20Alors, pour comprendre comment tout s'est accéléré, nous avons appelé Max Lahache, qui n'a pas mâché ses mots.
02:33Bon, Lahache peut prendre le pouvoir, mais à l'entendre, les suppressions d'emplois, ce n'est pas vraiment lui.
02:51Et à Birmingham, c'est tombé sur les éboueurs.
03:01INIT ! UNIT !
03:07Nous, c'est un pays de l'euros de 8,000 a year
03:09Dûle de la régradation
03:10Nous, c'est un pays de l'housi
03:12Donc, nous sommes husband et wife
03:13Nous allons perdre entre 12,000 et 14,000 a year
03:17Les gens sont perdus leur homes
03:18Parce que de ça
03:19Certains gens vont avoir moins
03:21C'est la réalité de la vie
03:23Vous devez être capable de faire le meilleur job que vous pouvez
03:26Pour la taxe payée
03:27Et mettre le citoyen first
03:29As un worker
03:30Il a été terrible
03:32Parce que nous ne savons pas ce qui va arriver
03:33Le council est saying une chose
03:35Disappearing on us
03:36It's really been traumatic
03:38We just can't afford to live this way
03:40Do you know what I mean
03:40It's a disgrace
03:42It's been seriously hard
03:44Do you know what I mean
03:44And recently I've done this to myself
03:47So even if I could go back to work
03:49I can't
03:50It's not like
03:51Birmingham's Refuse Collection Service
03:53Was the best service in the country
03:55Even though it was expensive
03:57It was one of the worst services
03:58So it needs to be better
04:00The waste is firing up
04:02The regular workers have been replaced
04:04By agency workers
04:05They've got no rights
04:06And consequently
04:07They're not going to kill him with the same service
04:10Nous avons arpenté les rues de Birmingham
04:12Et même si la ville n'est plus une décharge à ciel ouvert
04:15On peut dire qu'il y a encore du travail
04:17Mais même après plus d'un an sous les ordures
04:19Les Britanniques conservent leur sens de l'humour
04:22I've got a mug
04:23I've survived Birmingham's non-bin collection
04:25And I've also done a jigsaw
04:27And they actually called it
04:28Rats as big as cats
04:30Because it's terrible
04:32But it all started off with a calendar
04:34This is January in Hansworth
04:37April, Peaky Blinder territory
04:39June
04:40You wouldn't think that's a nice picture to be taken in June
04:43What struck me when I went round the city
04:45It was the poorest parts of Birmingham
04:47That was suffering the most
04:49The rich parts in the rich suburbs
04:52They didn't have any pile up of rubbish
04:54But in the poor parts
04:55There was loads more rats
04:57Disease and rubbish
04:59The reality is that in local government
05:01It's all about services
05:03And services are delivered by people
05:05As they always say
05:06To govern is to choose
05:08If you spend money on refuse collection
05:10You can't spend it on libraries
05:12Sauf que les bibliothèques ferment aussi
05:14So we've gone from six days
05:15To five days
05:16To four days
05:17Probably about a third of the books
05:18Have been disposed
05:19The library was opened in 1906
05:21I go two or three times a week
05:24Since 1995
05:25Not, not, not
05:27I'm not that old
05:27Alors Jim, lui, a vu les services publics
05:31De son quartier disparaître
05:32Les uns après les autres
05:33We had no police at all
05:35Although we only have a kiosk
05:36No policemen
05:37Mais ce qui l'étonne le plus
05:39C'est les bâtiments publics
05:40Presque neufs
05:41Qui ferment à la chaîne
05:42You can see
05:43All this building
05:44Was built brand new
05:46By the council
05:47Right to the end there
05:49About 10 years ago
05:50It's now completely empty
05:53So if you were homeless
05:54You had problems with housing
05:55Mental health issues
05:57Benefits issues
05:58You could come in here
05:59Five days a week
06:00Get help and advice
06:02All of that is closed
06:03And they're trying to squeeze
06:05All those
06:05Some of those staff
06:07Into the library
06:08This whole building
06:09Is now due to be sold
06:10To a private developer
06:12Things have got to change
06:13There was never going to be
06:15Enough money
06:15To keep the service the same
06:17There are a number of cities
06:18Still in intervention
06:20Right now
06:20Croydon is in intervention
06:22Slough is in intervention
06:24Warrington is in intervention
06:26Because the local leadership
06:27Both politically and managerially
06:30Have failed to do the job
06:32That they were there to do
06:34I felt ashamed for Birmingham
06:36You know it's a loss of pride
06:37For the city
06:38It's humiliation for people
06:40Who live here all their lives
06:41We have a good joke
06:42We say Birmingham will be great
06:44When it's finished
06:44Because we're always
06:46Knocking things down
06:48And rebuilding
06:48And that's been the case
06:50All my life
06:51But we always have a good spirit
06:52There's always a good spirit
06:53In the city
06:54Despite these things
06:55You know it's a good spirit
06:56You know it's a good spirit
06:57You know it's a good spirit
06:58You know it's a good spirit
06:59You know it's a good spirit
07:00You know it's a good spirit
07:01You know it's a good spirit
07:02You know it's a good spirit
07:03You know it's a good spirit
07:04You know it's a good spirit
07:05You know it's a good spirit
07:06You know it's a good spirit
07:07You know it's a good spirit
07:08You know it's a good spirit
07:09You know it's a good spirit
07:10You know it's a good spirit
07:11You know it's a good spirit
07:12You know it's a good spirit
07:13You know it's a good spirit
07:14You know it's a good spirit
07:15You know it's a good spirit
07:16You know it's a good spirit
07:17You know it's a good spirit
07:18You know it's a good spirit
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