A “threatening situation”. That is how Birmingham was described by the incoming Labour government led by Harold Wilson in 1964. Unemployment in Birmingham and the West Midlands was virtually non-existent in the post-war period and average household incomes were well above the national average.
However, rather than recognising this as the remarkable achievement that it was, the government saw it as a problem. It felt that Birmingham should not be able to become too successful as that might exacerbate the economic decline of other regions. As such, it was decreed that people should be forced out of the city centre lest Birmingham became even more successful.
