Matthew Stadlen has branded the ongoing Birmingham bin strikes an "unacceptable state of affairs" as rubbish continues to pile up on the streets of Britain's second largest city.
Hundreds of workers have been on all-out strike for more than a month, leading to significant disruption across Birmingham.
Despite collection efforts removing 11,000 tonnes of waste, streets remain cluttered with uncollected rubbish.
Political commentator Matthew Stadlen told GB News: "That is a totally unacceptable state of affairs. I don't care how they resolve this dispute. It needs to be resolved.
Matthew Stadlen blasted the "broken city"
GB News
"The Government ultimately is responsible. It has to sort this out because there is a public health crisis, as far as I can see, on the streets of our second biggest city, where children are growing up.
"The streets are rat infested. There is no excuse for that.
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"Until that is addressed, questions like 'is Britain broken' are going to be answered by far too many people to say yes it is.
"Because in Birmingham at the moment the situation is broken."
GB News host Martin Daubney chimed in: "And guess who the Unite union in Birmingham are blaming? - the Conservatives."
Unite members "voted overwhelmingly" against what the union described as the council's "totally inadequate" offer on Monday.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham criticised Sir Keir Starmer's Government, saying it had taken them "a huge amount of time to get involved in the dispute" between the union and Birmingham City Council.
The standoff shows no immediate signs of resolution as both sides remain at an impasse.
Union leaders have warned that similar strikes could spread beyond Birmingham to other cities across England.
There are fears that walkouts could next take place in Yorkshire, Peterborough, Sheffield and Cambridge.
Rubbish has been piling up in Birmingham
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"If it was looking for our members anywhere like it is in Birmingham, with a quarter of wages being cut, then of course there would be a response," the source said.
The Government has stepped in to address the crisis, calling in a small number of military planners to provide logistical support for street cleaning operations.
Business and trade minister Sarah Jones has urged Unite to accept what she called a "good offer" on the table.
She said: "Our message loud and clear is Unite need to call off the strike, accept the deal, and let's get back to normal, which is what people expect and what people deserve,."
