Watch: We join protests against Birmingham City Council cuts as demonstrators make important statement

Birmingham City Council's financial crisis and the subsequent cuts to services and rises in taxes has led to outrage amongst many across the city. 

Here today (Saturday, March 2) outside the Council House in Victoria Square demonstrators have gathered to express their anger towards the authority - but they also raise important questions about how local government is treated by central government. Unison says one in five councils in England are facing the same ‘effective bankruptcy’ fate as Birmingham, which could see 63, in total, needing government commissioners to run them.

Caroline Johnson, Joint Branch Secretary, Unison Birmingham, said: “Local government is broken. It’s not to do with mismanagement, it's to do with not having enough funds to provide the things that people need. The government has got to start funding local government properly.” Watch our full video report at the top of this story.