Nigel Farage has slammed council and government over the disastrous bin strikes gripping Birmingham telling voters 'it's what you get' when you vote Labour. The Reform UK leader claimed there was 17,000 tonnes of uncollected waste on the streets of the UK's second-biggest city and that it was like a scene from the First World War.

He said: "In Birmingham, if you vote for a Labour council that's what you get - 17,000 tonnes of rubbish and rats the likes of which have not been seen since the Western Front. I haven't been to Birmingham, I have a couple of friends who have visited and said it really is awful and it represents a genuine health hazard.

"And I know that 24 hours ago, Army logistics have been called in to Birmingham but I suspect what we actually need are going to be some soldiers pretty damn quickly, and an army of rat catchers and lots of terrier men and things like that to sort this out, but there you go. If you vote Labour at local-government level, that's what you get."

Huge protests erupted earlier in as the bin strike continues after the union, Unite, rejected an offer from the council. Rubbish has been piling up on the city's streets, and there have been warnings of a public health emergency as hundreds of workers have been on all-out strike for more than a month. On Monday, the Unite union rejected an offer from the council. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham was asked how likely the bin strikes could spread to other parts of the country.

"Well, if other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely, of course, we all have to take action in those other areas," she told LBC. The union's national lead officer Onay Kasab agreed there was potential for industrial action in further areas.

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