Birmingham Forward members call on MPs to put city first

Lobby group Birmingham Forward is demanding the city's newly-elected MPs act as a team to put Birmingham first to promote the city's strengths in the corridors of power. The call comes in response to a sample of the opinions of member firms that was conducted during the series of political breakfasts the organisation held in advance of the election. Derek Inman, chair of Birmingham Forward explained: "Our members' demands were clear from the study - the 11 MPs representing Birmingham must put our city first, ahead of party political differences. "We need a broad team who will co-operate with each other to champion Birmingham really boosting our profile and giving us our rightful position as a national and international centre of global commerce. The MPs which choose to reject this route, preferring to focus on their personal or party agenda will be letting the city down and, therefore, their constituents. "Along with other business organisations in the city we are working hard to promote the talent we have here. With our 'Advised in Birmingham' campaign putting Birmingham's outstanding professional services sector firmly on the map. "We are also backing W1, the London office, and planning a series of events that will give us a platform for promoting our city and sector to a national and international audience. We want our MPs to support us in this, giving us their backing for these events, lobbying for the right audiences and attending where appropriate. Other issues member firms believe should be high on the new MPs' agenda include city centre transport, the renovation of New Street station and education. This latter point is particularly pertinent in light of the retraining required by many in order to make to make the most of the employment opportunities in the region following the collapse of MG Rover. Neil Frankland, chair of Birmingham Future added: "Birmingham is a great city in which to build your career. In the professional services sector the job opportunities are as good as those anywhere in the country, giving people the chance to work on the very best deals and projects. Add to this the varied social life and potential for city living and it means you really can have a good work life balance. "But we cannot rest on our laurels. Our MPs need to be working for measures to make city living more attractive, such as extending the stamp duty threshold and backing ASBOs in areas like Broad Street. Only then will our MPs be putting Birmingham first."

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