A senior Labour MP has sparked fury by leaving his constituents to fight bin strikes while enjoying a luxurious trip to Japan.
Liam Byrne, a Birmingham MP and chair of the business and trade committee, flew 6,000 miles to Tokyo for a ‘fact-finding’ mission with seven other MPs at the end of last month.
But rather than return with others on Friday after official meetings finished, he is understood to have extended his trip for a personal holiday.
It means his constituents, who are some of the worst affected by the city’s unprecedented bin collection strikes, have been left without their local MP to fight their corner in the battle with the unions.
Mr Byrne also missed several key Commons hearings this week while the economy is under the cosh because of Donald Trump’s tariffs blitz, including an urgent question in Parliament on Monday about crisis-hit British Steel.
He is a former Treasury minister who famously left a note for the incoming Tory government in 2010 telling his successor: ‘I’m afraid there is no money.’
The official reason for the jaunt to Tokyo and Osaka by committee members was to ‘understand international export markets and opportunities’.
A leaked itinerary of the trip shows that the MPs flew business class to Tokyo and stayed at the city’s swanky five-star Hotel New Otani.
Liam Byrne meeting Shinji Takeuchi, Japan’s vice-minister for the economy and trade, during a visit to Tokyo. But he sparked fury by extending the work trip for a foreign holiday
Liam Byrne and seven other MPs from the business and trade committee, which he chairs, stayed at the luxurious five-star Hotel New Otani in Tokyo
Rubbish has piled up in Liam Byrne’s Birmingham constituency since he jetted off to Japan and turned his official work trip into a holiday
The luxury hotel, with its 37 bars and restaurants and 33 banquet rooms, boasts a 400-year-old, 10-acre Japanese garden complete with cascading waterfalls and lagoons which is listed as a must see for visitors.
Liam Byrne MP is no stranger to controversy, having left a note for the incoming Tory government in 2010 as an ex-Treasury minister warning that ‘there is no money’
The group also dined at the glitzy Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu restaurant, where bottles of wine cost up to £650. It was the inspiration for the ‘House of Blue Leaves’ nightclub in the 2004 Quentin Tarantino movie, Kill Bill, with its cavernous double levels and distinctive yellow lanterns.
Mr Byrne, it appears, may have extended his trip to coincide with the Commons’ Easter recess, which started today and runs until April 22.
The leaked itinerary states that Friday was the ‘departure day’ for only three MPs, not including him.
A source close to Mr Byrne last night said he was no longer in Japan but would not say where he was or give details about his exact movements since Friday.
Bin workers began their strike on March 11 and Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on March 31 – three days after Mr Byrne jetted off – citing public health concerns.
In Mr Byrne’s constituency today, firefighters were battling to bring a blaze under control which had apparently started in a vast pile of bin bags dumped behind a row of shops in Alum Rock.
The neighbourhood is one of the worst impacted by the bin strike, with huge mounds of festering waste visible on almost every street and residents fearful of rats running rampant.
Qurban Hussain, 62, said of his MP: ‘He’s absolutely useless. The only time we see Liam Byrne is election time when he comes out. He’s away when there’s a crisis in the area.’
Another constituent, Steve, 66, said: ‘He shouldn’t have gone to start with and then extending it adds insult to injury. I have only recently started hearing the bin strike being mentioned in Parliament – I think it should’ve been brought up well before it was.
Tokyo’s New Otani Hotel, where Liam Byrne and seven other MPs stayed, offers sweeping views over the Japanese capital from one of its more than restaurants and bars
Tokyo’s New Otani Hotel, where Liam Byrne and seven other MPs stayed, offers wonderful facilities, including a swimming and spa area
The 400-year-old Japanese garden in Tokyo’s New Otani Hotel is a draw for many of its high-profile visitors
Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu restaurant in Tokyo, where Liam Byrne dined with MPs on the business and trade committee, was the inspiration for scenes in Quentin Tarantino’s move Kill Bill
The Tories’ communities spokesman, Kevin Hollinrake, blasted: ‘This is completely wrong. The chair of the business and trade committee is missing in action while important statements and urgent questions are being debated in the House, including an international trade war threatening entire business sectors.
‘It’s also a dereliction of duty to his local constituents in Birmingham, who are facing a public health emergency and being confronted by rats the size of cats while their local MP is nowhere to be seen.
‘He should take a long look in the mirror and ask himself whether going on taxpayer-funded jollies rather than undertaking his parliamentary duties is a good use of his time and their cash. It’s no wonder he once wrote a note telling the British people that ‘there is no money left’.’
It is understood that three other Labour MPs – Rosie Wrighting, Sarah Edwards and Sonia Kumar – also extended their trip, along with Liberal Democrat MP Joshua Reynolds.
It was unclear tonight how much longer they stayed for, with a committee spokesman refusing to say for ‘security’ reasons.
Scenes in Birmingham are a far cry from the luxurious surroundings Liam Byrne has enjoyed in Japan in recent days due to unprecedented bin strikes
Bin strikes in Birmingham have blighted the city, with residents reportedly seeing ‘rats the size of cats’
Kevin Hollinrake, the Tories’ local government spokesman, blasted Liam Byrne for ‘a dereliction of duty’ after extending his Japan trip for a foreign holiday
A spokesman for Mr Byrne added that his ‘private travel was personally funded’.
However, the MPs are apparently flying back on planes paid for by taxpayers as part of the budget for the official trip.
MPs on committees often go on official trips as part of ‘fact-finding’ missions to inform any inquiries they are carrying out.
However, critics have previously raised concerns that some of them look like little more than ‘jollies’.
A business and trade committee spokesman said the Japan trip was a ‘very productive visit…linked to their current trade-focused inquiries’.
Included in the itinerary was a ‘briefing on Japanese politics by Professor Kensuke Takayasu’ of Seikei University and a meeting with their Japanese counterparts on the equivalent committee.
They also caught a Japanese bullet train to Kyoto for a tour of a Panasonic factory. They then travelled onto Osaka for a tour of the UK pavilion at the Expo 2025 technology exhibition.
Labour MP Rosie Wrighting, who sits on the business and trade committee, is understood to have also extended her visit to Japan
Labour MP Sarah Edwards was another Labour MP who joined the Japan delegation and is understood to have extended her trip
Labour MP Sonia Kumar also joined the Japan delegation and is understood to have also extended her trip
The committee spokesman added: ‘A return flight is part of the costs of the committee programme. There was no additional cost to the public purse of members taking later flights.
‘Any members travelling further in a private capacity do so privately.
‘Only the costs associated with participation in the committee programme are covered.’
The spokesman for Mr Byrne added: ‘Since Friday, Mr Byrne has anchored the major launch of the Committee’s draft report on the UK-EU reset; set out a 5 point roadmap for managing tariffs; engaged with ministers on the latest Post Office Horizon data; held informal meetings with Japanese business; briefed the Chair of the Liaison Committee on questions on steel and tariffs for the prime minister; with committee staff, designed the Inquiry sessions for the new Inquiry on Economic Security and joined ministerial meetings on the Birmingham bin strike.
‘Furthermore, the constituency team has been out in the streets of the community calling in priorities for clearing rubbish.’
Why did the bin strikes start?
Bin workers began their strike on 11 March and Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on 31 March, citing public health concerns They are striking due to a long-running dispute over the role of waste recycling and the removal of the collection officer roleThe Unite union claims the move will leave about 150 members £8,000 worse offThe council – which denies the claim – has been meeting with representatives from the union in a bid to resolve the strikes
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