Carole Malone erupted at a Labour MP who took a trip to Japan during the Birmingham bin crisis. Liam Byrne, the MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, travelled to Tokyo with the Commons Business Committee two weeks after the strike broke out.
He then reportedly extended the stay for a personal holiday last week. It comes as ongoing bin strikes have led to rubbish piling up on the city’s streets and complaints by residents of huge rats.
Commentator Ms Malone told GB News: “He’s gone off to Japan on a jolly, on a fact-finding mission.
“What facts could he possibly be finding that would be useful to Birmingham? I can’t imagine.
“Especially at a time when there’s 21,000 tons of rat-infested rubbish rotting in the street."
In defence of Mr Byrne, commentator Jonathan Lis said: “Liam Byrne is not in the government, he has no jurisdiction to resolve this issue whatsoever."
Ms Malone then interrupted and added: “He’s an MP. What he has no responsibility to his constituents?"
Mr Lis replied: “He can’t summon the different parties to resolve this dispute, that’s a matter for the council and the union and ultimately for national government."
Members of Unite in Birmingham walked out last month in a bitter dispute over pay and jobs.
Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on March 31 because of the impact.
Talks between local government and Unite are continuing in an effort to break the deadlock.
A spokesman for Mr Byrne said: “Since Friday, Mr Byrne has anchored the major launch of the committee’s draft report on the UK-EU reset; set out a five-point roadmap for managing tariffs; engaged with ministers on the latest Post Office Horizon data; held informal meetings with Japanese business; briefed the chair of the liaison committee on questions on steel and tariffs for the Prime Minister; with committee staff, designed the inquiry sessions for the new inquiry on economic security and joined ministerial meetings on the Birmingham bin strike."
The spokesman also said his constituency team had been working on the bins crisis.
A spokesman for the business committee said: “Any members travelling further in a private capacity do so privately.
“Only the costs associated with participation in the committee programme are covered.”
