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Kate Plummer
Jun 11, 2022
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Jess Phillips has been trolling the Tory MP who called Birmingham and Blackpool "godawful" and it is pretty spectacular.
In case it has passed you by, speaking during a conference about the government's new digital strategy on Thursday, Heather Wheeler reportedly made less than flattering comments about the cities.
According to Chris Middleton, a technology journalist who was at the launch, the junior minister in the Cabinet Office said: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”
He then said that a Cabinet Office official rang him after he first reported Wheeler’s comments saying it was a joke to break the ice and Wheeler took to Twitter to apologise but the damage had been done and people are miffed.
So today, the MP for no other than Birmingham Yardley has been sharing photos of "godawful" Birmingham, appearing to make the point that the city is really quite nice. We know, shocking.
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Here are the snaps she has posted so far:
\u201cGood morning from God Awful Birmingham\u201d— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1654938571
\u201cHappy lunchtime from God awful Birmingham\u201d— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1654944775
\u201cAfternoon from God awful Birmingham\u201d— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1654952571
And she had a more serious take on the story too. She also tweeted the following thread:
\u201c1/5 On Heather Wheeler saying Birmingham was godawful, I am not mortally offended, I am used to people thinking this stuff and being wrong and also people make off the cuff remarks regrettably all the time, we've all done it. It's the implied snobbery that's the problem.\u201d— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1654936853
\u201c3/5 Being a patriot as I'm sure Wheeler wishes to present herself as and thinks she is, is about much more than singing Jerusalem and waving flags, that's about show. Patriotism to me is about finding the joy from the people and the grit as well as the scenery in our country.\u201d— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1654936853
\u201c5/5 I \u2764\ufe0f Blackpool. Here are my Brummie kids living best life there. If Heather Wheeler is looking for something Godawful I suggest she drives a van of children from Blackpool to Birmingham on M6 & maybe puts her ire into improving the transport links in the Midlands and North.\u201d— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1654936853
Her colleagues Lisa Nandy and Angela Rayner weren't happy about it either.
In her apology, Wheeler said: "Whilst speaking at a conference on Thursday, I made an inappropriate remark that does not reflect my actual view. I apologise for any offence caused."
But it looks like Wheeler isn't going to live these comments down anytime soon.
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