Recently by Jonathan Walker

If you want to find out what lies behind the major business stories in the West Midlands, it's worth keeping an eye on Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff (Con) and the Commons Business Committee, which he chairs.

Today, he announced plans to interrogate senior managers from Kraft and Cabdury about the US food giant's takeover of the chocolatemaker.

And the committee is also dragging the former managers of MG Rover, known popularly as the Phoenix Four, for a grilling.

However, there is no fixed date for the Rover session - because the Committee is waiting for Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to decide whether to bring legal action which could disqualify them from becoming directors.

Mr Luff said "We decided that in light of the fact that court proceedings appear likely, it would not be right for us to proceed with the evidence session at the current time. However, I should emphasise that this is a postponement not a cancellation.

"Should proceedings not go ahead we will call in the four directors at the earliest opportunity. We also reserve the right to call them to give evidence once any legal proceedings have concluded."

Some of today's headlines suggest the Conservatives are threatening to pull out of supporting plans for a high speed rail service between London and Birmingham. This is not correct, from what I have been able to discover.

It began with a story in the Guardian, which says Conservatives have "refused to back a proposed 200mph London-to-Birmingham rail route". This is true, but the key word there is "route". It refers to a report suggesting a precise proposed route, setting out lines on a map to within five metres in urban areas and 25 metres in the countryside. (The Guardian makes this clear later in its story).

Refusing to commit to those exact proposals is not the same as backing out of building the new rail line. Strictly speaking, Labour is also "refusing" to back the proposed route, in as much as Transport Secretary Lord Adonis says nothing has been decided yet, and won't be until there is a full public consultation.

Of course, what we don't know is exactly how either party plans to pay for the new line. It's reasonable to be a little sceptical about whether it will ever be built, but today's spat about the route doesn't change anything.

This isn't the first time Conservatives have expressed doubt about the Government inquiry into the exact route. Speaking to The Birmingham Post last August, Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers said it would be only one of the studies a Tory government took into account, and pointed out that her proposals - for a national service stretching to Manchester and Leeds - were different to Labour's, which initially would take in only London and Birmingham (although Labour says this would probably be only the first stage).

What doesn't make sense is her refusal to even look at the Government's report. Lord Adonis has offered her a sneak preview, but she declined.

Some reports suggest the Conservatives are worried about upsetting voters in constituencies where the new high speed line will be built. Perhaps so but, simply by promising to build a high speed line, both parties are effectively promising to dig up parts of the picturesque Chilterns, where the line is expected to run, whether or not they specify the exact route.

I've written a column for tomorrow's Birmingham Post having a bit of a dig at David Wright, the Labour MP for Telford and Government whip, who is asking messaging service Twitter to investigate why a message or "tweet" he sent was apparently "tinkered with" to describe the Tories as "scum sucking pigs".

He says he was merely echoing the phrase "you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig", which was used during the US Presidential election campaign and is meant to suggest that giving the Tories a makeover to look nicer doesn't change what they really are. The reference to "scum" was somehow added in by a third party, apparently.

I point out that some of the other messages from his Twitter account - which I don't believe he has disowned - are also written in an aggressive and rather immature manner.

But columnist Rod Liddle will present a different view in this week's Spectator, the weekly magazine sympathetic to the Conservatives.

According to a preview of his article, which The Spectator was kind enough to send me, he argues: "Let's be honest, true feelings are sometimes visceral, they are not thought through, they are casually tossed off as part of a debate or argument and can be very easily taken out of context."

And although he predicts politicians using the Internet to communicate with the public will increasingly be censored by party spin-doctors, he describes this as "fundamentally undemocratic", concluding: "That visceral dislike is rooted in principle . . . I would far rather that than the chloroform of the present debate."

Perhaps he's right.

Kraft Chief Exectuive Irene Rosenfeld has sent a letter to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson insisting that the proposed takeover of Cadbury is "good news for British manufacturing" and promising to act with "respect for Cadbury's heritage, people and identity".

While it is a personal letter, and I don't believe it has been publicly released yet, it is in effect the promise Kraft is making to the British government and Britain as a whole.

Here is what it says:

Rt Hon Lord Mandelson
Secretary of State
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
19 January 2010

Dear Secretary of State:

Further to my letter to you of December 10th, you will know that this morning we announced the detailed terms of our Final Offer for Cadbury and that the board of Cadbury unanimously recommends Cadbury Securityholders to accept the terms of this Offer.

I am confident that the combination of Kraft Foods and Cadbury is good news for both companies. As we have said, the Offer reflects our view of the strength of Cadbury's business, its brands and the future potential for growth. I also believe that, over the long term, this is good news for British manufacturing and will enable us to accelerate growth beyond what the two companies could achieve alone.

I recognise the concerns of the UK government and I can again assure you of our intentions to proceed with sincere respect for Cadbury's heritage, people and identity.

Yours sincerely,

Irene B Rosenfeld

There's a lot of speculation today about the time it took for members of the cabinet to come out in support of Gordon Brown and against calls for a secret ballot on his removal yesterday.

Apparently, the fact that senior Cabinet Ministers waited hours to make a statement suggests their support for Mr Brown was half-hearted.

I should probably point out that at least one Cabinet Minister did rule out a ballot straight away.

Liam Byrne, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill spoke to the Birmingham Post and Mail at about 12.40 yesterday afternoon, about 15 minutes after the Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt sent out their e-mail (and just moments after he first heard about it).

Julie Kirkbride has received backing from an unlikely source for her hopes of standing again as the Conservative candidate in Bromsgrove.

The Tory MP has made it pretty clear she wants to stay on in Parliament, despite announcing she was standing down.

And now she's been endorsed by high-profile Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik - who urged his own colleagues not to give her a hard time over her expenses claims.

Speaking to ITV Central, Lembit said: "I'm glad she's thinking about this. I know she's felt really shocked by the way she was treated in the media.

"She will have gone through this and decided, is there really something here so serious that I shouldn't stand again?

"I really hope that the Liberal Democrats in Bromsgrove will respect her wishes and not seek to make political gain out of this."

Of course, Lembit knows what it's like to be the centre of media attention, after dating first weather forecaster Sian Lloyd and then half of the Cheeky Girls (in a toe-curling Commons performance he told MPs: "I should point out that the other sister is still single").

Perhaps he sympathises. Or perhaps he's just taken a leaf from Chris Crocker's defence of Britney Spears.

The Queen's Speech set out the laws Labour plans to introduce before the next election. Here are some of the highlights:

I've been writing today about the MG Rover trust fund, which was discussed in a House of Commons debate led by Richard Burden (Lab Northfield), the Birmingham MP.

You may know that the former Rover directors, known as the Phoenix Four, promised to turn what left of the business into cash to be distributed to former employees, when the carmarker collapsed in 2005.

So far there's been no money, and the official explanation is that the business could not be liquidated while an official government inquiry into its affairs was still taking place.

Now that the inquiry is over - it reported in September - Mr Burden wants the money transferred to the employees' fund as soon as possible.

Fair enough. But let's remember that there is no guarantee there will ever be any money at all.

The corpse of MG Rover has creditors as well as assets. It needs to pay them off first.

Some of the Government's critics have talked up the importance of the trust fund, claiming that the lengthy inquiry into Rover's affairs stopped former employees getting their cash.

But they may be guilty of raising false hopes. I hope former Rover staff receive compensation but I wouldn't assume anything until they have the money in their pockets.

I've written in the past about how the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are boycotting the West Midlands select committee, a House of Commons committee set up to ensure the Government is giving the region a fair deal.

Now it seems even Labour can't get its members on the Committee. The whole thing is rapidly descending into farce, despite the best efforts of the chairman, Birmingham MP Richard Burden (Lab Northfield).

There are supposed to be nine members of the West Midlands committee, which is currently investigating the effects of the recession on the people of the region.

Five of these are meant to be Labour, with three Tories and one Liberal Democrat.

But the Tories won't turn up, because they object to the whole idea of regional government.

The Lib Dems are also boycotting the committee, because they feel it is unfair they only get one member on the regional committee in places such as the south west where they have a lot of MPs (this doesn't really apply to the West Midlands, but local MPs are boycotting it anyway).

Mr Burden attempted to get independent MP Richard Taylor (Ind Wyre Forest) on the committee - but Lib Dems have managed to block this, by objecting to it in the House of Commons.

Now, Labour MP David Kidney (Lab Stafford) has left the committee, because he has got a Government job as an energy minister.

MP Janet Dean (Lab Burton) is meant to be his replacement.

But her appointment has also been blocked by opposition MPs, who appear determined to ensure the committee fails.

So out of nine committee places, only four are currently filled - and even Labour is only taking four of the five seats it is entitled to.

Birmingham's football clubs face a tax hike of more than £900,000 next year thanks to increases in business rates, according to Conservatives.

A press release from the Tories claims that Villa will see business rates go up from £637,775 to £1,309,380, an increase of £671,605.

And rates paid by Blues will go up from £575,460 to £334,650, an increase of £240,810.

Between them, they'll be paying an extra £912,415 to the taxman. It's all a result of a revaluation of business properties which comes into effect next year.

For example, Villa Park's rateable value has increased from £1.3 million to £3.1 million (according to the inspectors who decide these things), as you can see here: http://www.2010.voa.gov.uk/rli/en/basic/find/assessment-history/2010/10341021000

St Andrews is now deemed to be worth £1.4 million rather than £700,000 - and here's the link: http://www.2010.voa.gov.uk/rli/en/basic/find/assessment-history/2010/11144765000

As revaluations occur every five years, and the last one was in 2005, I'm not sure how shocking this is. Conservatives claim it could lead to higher ticket prices.

But what makes me smile a little is the toe-curling comment from Tory Shadow Local Government Minister Justine Greening.

She is quoted in the press release saying: "Even football, our national sport, is not safe from Gordon Brown's tax rises.

"If clubs pass on these extra costs, it could mean even higher ticket prices for fans. I'm sure many will think it is time to show this Government the red card."

It's one of those phrases that nobody would ever actually use, except perhaps when speaking to the media.