London, Thanasis Gavos

He basically declared bankruptcy the borough of Birmingham in Britanniaa, announcing that it is suspending any but absolutely necessary spending on essential services.

It is the largest municipality in Europe in terms of population, with almost 1.15 million inhabitants.

The inability to cover the municipality’s financial needs is due to liabilities of 760 million pounds that remain outstanding against mainly female employees.

174 employees had in 2012 won a legal dispute with the city council which they complained of discrimination against them in terms of remuneration.

In particular, the Supreme Court had accepted the complaint that the municipality of Birmingham did not pay salaries to employees who filled the positions of teaching assistants, cleaners and other professions dominated by women, while giving bonuses to traditionally male-dominated professions, such as garbage collectors.

The council has already retroactively paid almost £1.1 billion but is unable to meet the remaining outstanding amount.