Article: Black Country quartet are Brown's rising stars; ANALYSIS Gordon Brown has swept a clean broom through the Labour Government, since stepping into the top job earlier this month; a move which has seen recognition for the Black Country quartet of Ian Austin, Tom Watson, Pat McFadden and Ian Pearson. Here Nick Matthews, self-proclaimed Son of Wednesbury - or 'Ikea Junction Nine' as it is now known - celebrates the rise of the Yam-Yam.(News)

Byline: Nick Matthews

Historically, Birmingham and its very near neighbour the Black Country have enjoyed a close but separate existence. Birmingham's reputation as the workshop of the world was underpinned by coal and steel from the Black Country. With the massive transformation of their economies in the 1980s and 90s, there is no doubt Birmingham recovered a sense of purpose much more quickly than the Black Country, to become the thriving multicultural centre it is today.

The Black Country has always had very close communities - despite the view from ...

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