How sensitive a couple of words can be. Mention the word “Birmingham” in parts of the Black Country and people are twitchy, but understanding. Put the adjective “Greater” in front of it, and you can hear knives being sharpened. You get much the same reaction over in Solihull.
Recent history has made “greater” an unhappy euphemism for territorial annexation. Think of Greater Serbia and Greater Iraq – concepts almost bound to induce UN intervention.
Yet most business leaders and many MPs are in favour of such an idea. If our region is to pull its economic weight on the European or global stage, and attract more inward investment, it’s widely accepted that it needs to put on several stones.
Alternative forms of wording for this will not fit on the billboard. Imagine a catchy poster in Beijing that reads: “Why not invest in the wider Birmingham, Black Country, Telford and Solihull Region?”
Short of raising from the dead the long defunct West Midlands County, I haven’t come up with anything better than “Greater Birmingham”.
But if the term is to convince the people of the parts that constitute the “greater”, then we need to do two pieces of research. First, we ought to speak to the people of Burnley and Bury and Bolton, and see how they feel about “Greater Manchester”. What was the deal that allowed these proud Lancashire towns to buy into the Manchester project?
Secondly, it would be good to examine how the original Greater Birmingham – when the city expanded its boundaries back in 1911– was made to work.
Crucial to all of this, I think, are attitudes in the Council House in Birmingham. Because it is so big – in population and geographical terms – the city of Birmingham has never had to worry much about the opinions of its neighbours. That is the historical reality of the last century.
Personally I would argue for exactly the opposite. The enormous size of Birmingham is the very reason why it should consider the sensitivities of its neighbours. It may be why the comparatively tiny city of Manchester has managed to get away with it.
* Dr Chris Upton is Reader in Public History at Newman University Birmingham
