A debate between two Burntwood councillors over national politics took an unusual turn when one produced a music video in response.
Labour’s Cllr Rob Birch and Conservative Cllr Wai-Lee Ho had been exchanging comments over the impact of austerity on local communities.
But after being accused of being unable to produce “a credible response”, Cllr Ho took to the TikTok video app to mime to a version of Ray J’s song One Wish with a picture of Cllr Birch’s behind him, complete with a loveheart filter and the line ‘Can’t we just be friends, Rob?’ written above.
But Cllr Birch said the reply showed that his Tory rival was “politically weak”, while the video also drew criticism from his Labour colleagues, with Cllr Darren Ennis branding it “strange” and Cllr Sue Woodward replying:
“There’s a limit. You might have reached it.”
Cllr Sue Woodward
The video also drew comment from Lichfield and Burntwood MP Michael Fabricant.
But Cllr Birch rejected suggestions he had trolled Cllr Ho:
“Trolled? Really? You mean challenged politically, but he was unable to respond in a mature way?
“Interesting perception and the reverse of the truth.”
Cllr Rob Birch
