Words by Josh Neicho
Self-professed patriotic campaigners from Kingstanding have started an online petition to see a commemorative statue of King Charles I officially erected at Kingstanding Circle, as a replacement for the unauthorised flag displays.
Legend has it Charles I reviewed his troops while standing on a neolithic barrow north of present-day Kingstanding Circle, in the run up to the first major clash of the Civil War, the Battle of Edgehill.
Keatley says that growing up locally, he often wondered why there was no monument to King Charles, given the name of the area, and argues Kingstanding deserves the equivalent of Brownhills’ 40 foot Tin Man or Spitfire Island in Castle Vale. His vision is of a statue similar of Charles I on horseback in scale and style to the one in the centre of London, at the top of Whitehall.
Now he is looking to amass support for the statue and has told media if approval is given to the monument the sea of St George’s Cross and Union flags on the Circle could “come down permanently”. Raise the Colours’ Chris Davis adds that “having something a lot more permanent would be a lot more fulfilling”.
For several months, the Kingstanding ‘flaggers’ have played cat and mouse with Council workers and anti-flagging activists over the display around Kingstanding Circle – with local residents debating if the campaign represents patriotism or jingoistic aggression.
Some even call the campaign racist in its intent, echoing the historic concerns over cultural division in Kingstanding – where the British National Party candidate Sharon Ebanks was nearly elected as local councillor in 2006.
But Keatley insists things have moved on in the last twenty years and believes “we should be able to celebrate our history and our culture.”
“If we aren’t doing anything to celebrate it, it’s being taken away,” he adds.
Raise the Colours Kingstanding is optimistic about the statue, after receiving support from several candidates in the recent local elections. They now hope to progress the idea with the ward’s new Reform councillors, including the Birmingham group’s newly appointed leader, Jex Parkin.
Reform UK Deputy Leader, Richard Tice, who visited during the local elections campaign, “is in full support of our movement and what we stand for”, Keatley adds, and he’s waiting to see if Tice “will help us make it happen”.
Keatley suggests funding could come from the £20 million awarded to Kingstanding under the Government’s Pride in Place scheme.
Announced by the Erdington MP Paulette Hamilton in September last year, after funds were released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Pride in Place will see £20m come into Kingstanding over the next decade – with £2m allocated for projects annually.
Following an open application process, Birmingham Settlement boss Martin Holcombe has been appointed Chair of the Pride in Place Board that will oversee spending – with additional members being made up from local stakeholders and residents.
Hamilton says she is proud to have secured the funding and decisions on spending must be community-led. “This funding should reflect the priorities of local residents, whether that is investing in youth services, safe and welcoming spaces for older people, improving parks and public spaces, or indeed proposals such as a statue of King Charles I,” she confirmed.
But historians warn that claims about Charles I’s presence at Kingstanding should be treated with due scepticism.
Professor Andrew Hopper, a Civil War specialist who grew up in Solihull, says he knew the story years ago, “but only from ‘tradition’ and oral sources”. Professor Hopper adds that enthusiasm for a Charles I statue is ironic, given Birmingham’s noted Parliamentarian sympathies in the Civil War and the sack of the city by Prince Rupert – an incident recalled by several Erdington Local readers.
After reading about Keatley’s petition on Erdington Local’s social media, James Wells from Erdington Lunar Society posted: “Let’s commemorate someone who attempted to take our democratic rights away, caused a civil war that divided the country and whose son viciously attacked Birmingham who supported the parliamentary side. I don’t think so.”
Doyen of Birmingham history Carl Chinn says a more prosaic explanation is that the name comes from a ‘standing’ – a hunter’s station – which Chinn thinks is plausible given the area’s proximity to Sutton, a royal chase.
Meanwhile researcher Ronald E. Crook once documented the word ‘king’ was common in the names of local fields before the Civil War and that there are stories linked to the Kingstanding barrow about a medieval Danish king’s exploits too.
To see the online petition visit www.change.org/p/install-a-statue-of-king-charles-i-on-kingstanding-circle
LOCAL POLITICS: Campaign for statue of King Charles I at Kingstanding Circle gets support from Council election candidates
Words by Josh Neicho
A campaign to commemorate King Charles I’s reputed visit to Kingstanding during the English Civil War with a major statue has been drumming up support from candidates at the upcoming Council elections.
Kingstanding local Sean Keatley has launched an online petition to ‘Install a statue of King Charles I on Kingstanding Circle’ through the Change.org website – which at the time of writing has 331 verified signatures.
Legend has it that King Charles I reviewed his troops while standing on a neolithic barrow north of what today is Kingstanding, in the run up to the Battle of Edgehill in October 1642.
Keatley’s petition says the story of the troop review “adds character to our community” and “connects us to our country’s rich historical tapestry”.
The proposed statue at the six-ways roundabout would have educational value and build pride and identity, the petition adds.
Kingstanding current elected official, Councillor Clifton Welch (Local Conservatives) told Kingstanding/Erdington Local he is “absolutely massively in favour of the principle,” of the Charles I statue – or an alternative proposal of a war memorial after surveying local residents.
“Both ideas are excellent, ” adds Cllr Welch. “There’s a lot of pride from residents; they’ve also been strong supporters of the monarchy. Kingstanding was under Labour for decades and taken for granted for a long time.”
Meanwhile, independent candidate in the ward and veteran Birmingham community and race justice activist Bishop Desmond Jaddoo has also given his approval. “They were shocked when I said it, because they just don’t know me,” Jaddoo says. “Just like I pushed for [the] Windrush stuff, I will push for anything.”
Keatley also claims to have support from Reform’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice, who recently visited Kingstanding in support of local candidates Jex Parkin and John Lambert.
Sean Keatley is part of the Raise the Colours group in Kingstanding, who have been responsible for installing unauthorised Union Flags and St George’s Cross flags around Kingstanding Circle and across the B44 postcode – garnering mixed responses from local residents and stakeholders.
Growing up locally, Keatley says he has wondered at the absence of a monument to Charles, given the area’s name. The statue would be a worthy replacement, he adds, for the extensive display of flags which are eventually taken down by council workers and anti-flagging campaigners.
Fellow Raise the Colours member, Chris Davis, says: “Having something a lot more permanent would be a lot more fulfilling.”
Birmingham voters will head to the polling stations on Thursday 7 May to elect local councillors in all the 69 wards throughout the city.
To find out who is standing in the Council elections across the Erdington constituency, click here.
FEATURE: Erdington renters facing millions in extra energy costs as the government scraps efficiency plans
Words by Ed King and Josh Neicho
People renting private accommodation in Erdington could have paid out over £1.1million in extra energy costs this winter, after the Government scrapped plans to force landlords to up their energy efficiency standards – according to research by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
The legislative U-turn was announced in a press release issued by Downing Street before Christmas, outlining several points where the Prime Minister has “revised plans” previously set for the UK to challenge climate change and to reach net zero by 2050.
According to the United Nations, whose member states made collective promises on environmental issues in the 2015 Paris Agreement, net zero means “cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible” – and to a level where any remaining emissions can be naturally “re-absorbed from the atmosphere”.
Amongst these commitments, the UK pledged to introduce new legislation that would force all privately rented tenancies to carry an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above by 2028 – bringing their properties in line with the most energy efficient systems and reducing bills for renters.
However, under new plans announced by the Prime Minister in late 2023, the Government has now stated it will: “Scrap policies to force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties” but would “instead continue to encourage households to do so where they can.”
In new analysis, published by the ECIU, it was found that 73% of private rented homes in Erdington currently carry an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower – meaning the new laws would have forced an upgrade in thousands of homes across the constituency and made their energy consumption cost less.
With improved energy systems, and based on figures from energy ombudsman Ofgem and net zero consultants Cornwall Insight, the ECIU estimate Erdington renters could save up to £26million in energy costs by 2050 if all homes carried an EPC rating between A-C.
The ECIU further calculated private renters across the constituency missed out on £1.1million in potential savings over the 2023/24 winter months alone.
Other policy shifts made in the Government’s statement include pulling back on their proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, and extending the deadline for homeowners to install more energy efficient boilers.
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls the new plans a “fairer” approach to the UK’s commitment to becoming net zero by 2050, insisting the UK will still meet its targets for 2030 and 2035 and the revised agenda is “a pragmatic, proportionate and realistic path”.
Organisations representing private landlords have also welcomed the changes, with Ben Thompson, Deputy CEO at Mortgage Advice Bureau, highlighting the “pressing timelines” many were under to retrofit new energy systems.
Environmental and social activists, however, have challenged the Government’s revised plans – arguing they renege on the UK’s previous promises to effectively challenge climate change, and leave individual households paying hundreds more in their annual energy bills.
Paul Barnes, regional organiser for community union ACORN West Midlands, believes private households will bear the brunt of the Government’s shift in policy.
He said: “Tenants in the UK are facing an impossible challenge of rising costs and stagnant wages. The government’s decision to row back on its commitments for landlords to increase the energy efficiency of homes will push renters and our members further into poverty.
“With growing issues of rent increase linked with increasing energy costs, many of our members are already having to make impossible choices. We demand that the UK Government brings back its commitments to increased energy efficiency.”
Jess Ralston, Energy Analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, added: “Private renters include some of the most vulnerable people in society, such as those with a long-term illness or disability and low-income families. There’s no two ways about it, they will be made colder and poorer by scrapping these standards.
“The Prime Minister has essentially picked the landlord over the renter with his U-turn, in a move that makes no sense to fuel poverty charities or to energy companies alike.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, or want more information about your rights and responsibilities over domestic energy use, contact Ofgem via www.ofgem.gov.uk
for more from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit visit www.eciu.net