Birmingham Post

Whitby clearly has a problem with scrutiny committees, or indeed with anyone who dares to suggest that the sums for a major project may not add up or that there might be more than one answer to a complex question.
And as his temper rose, it was a case of the usual mangled syntax.
Labour councillors were accused of "perjuring the reputation of professional people" by questioning the library business case and offered a suitable period of reflection in which to apologise. No apologies were forthcoming.
Then we were on to our old friend fiscal discipline – for which the council had been "praised and eulogised" by the Government and which would certainly deliver the library on time and on budget.
The issue of value for money in a fiscal environment was paramount in delivering a world class information hub in a way that the simple Anglo Saxon word 'library' could never capture, he said.
At one stage, staring at the non-believers in front of him, Whitby shook his head, before adding: "And I thought you were going to be critical friends".
Recovering his composure, back to the script: "We have an enhanced reputation for fiscal discipline. The reality is these are professional costings".
And then, veering off-piste again: "There was a rather facile comment on the way the finances have been put together. Please do not insult people."
I don't suppose I was the only observer to detect a certain frisson between the Tory and Lib Dem halves of the Progressive Partnership, hardly helped by Moseley Lib Dem councillor Martin Mullaney's observation that extending the existing central library would be £50 million cheaper than the Centenary Square project and would provide more space for books and archives.
The ludicrous split site library proposal, championed incidentally by Coun Whitby, put incredible strain on the coalition. That strain is no less evident today.
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It is far from clear how the 200 metre high "vertical theme park" planned for Birmingham Eastside fits in with the city council's intention to develop the area as a centre for higher education and intellectual stimulation.
On the other hand, since there are already 20,000 students living in Eastside they will need something to do when they are not sleeping or binge drinking.
Brum's own version of the Blackpool Tower – the Vertiplex200 – is going to have the UK's highest controlled bungee jump and may prove popular with those who think theme parks are the last word in excitement.
But Iron Angle has learnt that the £100 million Vertiplex leisure and observation tower is not to the taste of design gurus at CABE – the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.
Indeed, the Government-backed body set up to encourage councils to insist on quality design has voiced severe doubts about the scheme.
CABE is worried about the way the building "hits the ground", the general composition, and the case for having it there at all, according to a report in the authoritative Building Design magazine.
Such comments are rubbish, according to council leader Mike Whitby.
It was a bold and innovative building that would regenerate a deprived area and boost Birmingham's global credentials, he said.
And just in case you thought the Vertiplex might be, well, just a tad chavvish, wash your mouth out.
A council spokesman described the tower as a unique attraction that fits with broader aspirations for Birmingham to "become a globally relevant city".
Vertiplex developers Pettifer Estates still have to obtain permission for their creation from that famously quasi-judicial Birmingham Planning Committee, where decisions are never taken in advance. No doubt CABE's observations will be given the consideration they deserve – before being jettisoned faster than a falling bungee jumper.