Our media play an important role in informing us of the facts so it is really important that they get those facts right. Last night they kind of muddied the waters.

Last night on BBC Midlands News there was an item on the selection of a new Leader of the controlling Labour Group on Birmingham City Council. Albert Bore the current Leader is standing down.

It’s a simple process, or it should be; the Labour Group on the Council holds a meeting to select their new Leader from a list of four nominations. All fine so far, until the reporter made the point that the meeting was in private and that members of the public did not have a vote on the issue. Is it any wonder that members of the public get all wound up? It may well be that the reporter felt that the residents of Birmingham should have a say in who the new Leader should be. That’s an opinion not a fact.

Here in the UK we have a Parliamentary Democracy. Voters vote for a political party so whoever the Leader of that Party is becomes leader, in the case of Parliament, he or she would become Prime Minister and in the case of Birmingham City Council the person who leads the controlling group would become Leader of the Labour Group and because Labour has a majority on the Council he or she would become Leader of the Council.

So BBC Midlands News please get it right, the news story is that Albert Bore was standing down as Leader so people would like to know why. Secondly who are the contenders to fill his shoes as Leader of the Labour Group and ultimately Leader of the City Council?

So please stop trying to make the voters in Birmingham feel hard done by for not having a say. They will get their chance in May next year at the Local Elections. That’s the democratic process.