00:01Resignations can change the balance of tone of local politics, especially in a council
00:06already under pressure. In Birmingham, Councillor Majid Mahmood has now left the Labour Party,
00:13saying he has serious concerns about the city group and Labour's wider political direction.
00:20Councillor Mahmood, who represents Bromford and Hodge Hill, says the local leadership
00:24lacks the experience, judgment and political competence needed for Birmingham. He also
00:30says members' questions have too often gone unanswered, creating what he described as avoidance
00:37and opacity within decision-making. He also criticised Labour's approach to immigration
00:43and said many senior figures had failed to recognise the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
00:50He said those issues have caused a deep rupture for many people, particularly in Muslim communities
00:57across Birmingham. The Labour Party rejects that criticism. A group spokesperson says Councillor
01:04Mahmood has repeatedly sought to undermine the Labour group and its new leadership. They say
01:10he could have stood for group leader but chose not to make that case after the elections.
01:15The resignation is the second from Birmingham Labour since local elections, after councillor
01:21Diane Donaldson also left the party. It takes Labour's group on the City Council to just 15 councillors.
01:29means
01:29to
01:29the
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