Second City

I must say, after reading my friends initial response that his 'tugging at the heartstring' tactics had me almost welling up when he mentioned the sufferances endured by Birmingham as part the war effort and the terrible price paid by the proud Brummies.
Manchester too paid a terrible price yet to rely on a sympathy vote to muster support for his case is only to be expected from an opponent whose whole argument for Second City status centres around it's size.
Well, in the words of my Mrs and countless little achievers across the UK, don't you know that size isn't everything? Never mind the quality feel the width became old hat when Birmingham City lost out to Manchester minnows Atrincham in the FA Cup 1985-6 season.

If we were to base the debate on size , then surely I could bleat as much about the search results returned by Google for instance and should my learned friend care to compare the return of 9 million more results for Manchester UK than for Birmingham UK, then size secures victory for Manchester but I won't. Instead I'll concentrate more on culture, popularity of those outside of
both boundaries and on our city's importance to the nation.

I will first though, respond to the notion that Neville Chamberlain be held up as some measure of worth in providing validity of Birmingham's claim.

After all, wasn't this the man whose paper waving moment misled a whole nation into believing that war had been avoided?
Mmm, a Brummie whose contribution to Birmingham's case in this debate will once again try to mislead a nation into believing an untruth.

As for the Gallaghers, yes they left for London but hey, Noddy Holder left Birmingham to further his career in none other than Manchester.
See, even your celebrities prefer to become ours.
Correct me if I'm wrong here but are you aware of any Mancs seeking life changing opportunities close to the Bullring or Spaghetti Junction?

Perhaps I was being a little unfair when suggesting that notable Birmingham inventions were limited to Brylcream and Custard because we now discover that Cotton wool, yes Cotton wool, you know - that stuff used to get the wax out of your ears, is another.

Anyway let's move on to the reasons why Manchester is undoubtedly the clear winner in this debate. We have here the most creative city in the UK with more patents per head of population than any other UK city including London. We have the fastest growing economy in the UK and more students apply to relocate to Manchester than to any other UK university.

There was never a need to build a bypass motorway toll to avoid our great city because commuters and tourists place Manchester the second most popular UK destination outside of London.
Mancunians also tend not to alienate neighbouring towns and cities that exist within our boundaries and unlike our Brummie counterparts you will find that Salfordians, Stopfordians and Boltonians are also proud to consider themselves Mancunians.
Ask any Sutton Colfield resident the same of Birmingham and they will shout as loudly as they did in 1974 when the area was swallowed up by Birminghams ambition to become the second largest city in England. Our Brummie friend further proves my point in his damning comments about Wolverhampton, a fine and proud city whose residents I'm sure, will vote in our favour.

Manchester's status is cemented further still by the perception of COOL, not a description associated with Birmingham and if judged by those who have visited or reside in both cities you will find that DULL is a more fitting term attributed to our bypassed rival.

There is a continental feel to Manchester that is more associated with a European city yet this is further shored up by the increasing amount of european tourists wishing to sit out in the splendour of Picadilly Gardens with its host of trendy bars or to shop in two of the top ten largest shopping centres in the UK. Celebrities now clamour into the plethora of entertainment venues and fine eating establishments eager to be seen in the city they also consider second only to London.

Do we really need to continue this debate or do we have to further embarrass the Brummies into acknowledging what the rest of the country, indeed the rest of the world already know?

I put it to my learned friend - concede or face further embarassment that will stretch to the unveiling of yet more sad exposures that would see Birmingham drop further than it's already undeserved third city status.

Vote Manc.