事出突然，英国第二大城市竟宣布破产？

据BBC等多家媒体报道，当地时间9月5日，英国第二大城市伯明翰的市政委员会宣布该市破产。

英伯明翰市政厅宣告正式破产 图源：BBC

市议会领导人约翰·科顿 图源：BBC

Halting all spending except on essential services, Birmingham City Council insisted vital services that it must provide by law would be protected such as protecting the vulnerable. The pressures have been linked to a £760m bill to settle equal pay claims. Its leader John Cotton said "tough and robust decisions" would be made. But the authority would continue to provide essential services.

伯明翰市政厅 图源：PA MEDIA

伯明翰市政厅已经发布了第114条通知，以偿还约8700万英镑（折合1.09亿美元）的同工同酬相关财务责任、以及预算中的年度财政缺口。

伯明翰人口约115万，是英国第二大城市。鉴于其今年已无法平衡账目，伯明翰市也将成为英国最新也是最大的一个宣布自己实际破产的地方当局。

Birmingham City Council said it had issued a Section 114 notice in order to meet its financial liabilities relating to equal pay claims and an in-year financial gap within its budget, which currently stands in the region of 87 million British pounds ($109 million).

With a population of about 1.15 million people, Birmingham is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom. And Birmingham is set to become the latest and biggest local authority in the UK to declare itself effectively bankrupt, as for having failed to balance its books this year.

London were shown to be the UK's "Economic Engine": according to the 2020 data released by the British National Bureau of Statistics, London accounted for 0.65 percent of the UK's area and 13.42 percent of the population, while it created 23.37 percent of the UK's GDP. However, this year the railway workers' strike nearly caused the engine to flameout.

And according to the latest Political Monitor release shows that 3 in 4 Britons (76 percent) believe Britain is becoming a worse place to live. 

The latest Political Pulse release of 25 August also shows that 23 percent of Britons are favourable towards the Conservatives (53 percent unfavourable) while 38 percent are favourable towards the Labour party with 34 percent — unfavourable.

英国智库国民经济与社会研究所预测，在“脱欧”、疫情后续影响和俄乌冲突三重影响下，英国经济在未来5年内将陷入“低增长陷阱”。

编辑：商桢
实习生：李经纬

来源：央视新闻 英国国家广播公司 美国有线电视新闻网

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