Birmingham city council ignored bankruptcy warning signs, says expert

Max Caller, tasked with pulling the local authority from financial brink, calls crisis self-inflicted'

Councillors at Birmingham city council ignored the warning signs" of its financial crisis and caused a self-inflicted" disaster that will take years of cuts to rectify, according to the lead government commissioner drafted in to help.

Local government expert Max Caller, who has been nicknamed Max the Axe for his unsparing approach to budget cuts, was lured out of retirement to take on the task of fixing England's largest local authority after it effectively declared itself bankrupt.