𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A scathing report into the Maccabi Tel Aviv fiasco which saw Israeli fans banned from attending November’s match against Aston Villa blasts West Midlands Police (WMP) and the Labour Government for failings. The cross-party Home Affairs committee says WMP were “overly reliant on inaccurate and unverified information about the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans” and criticises the force for not doing “even basic due diligence”. Labour is now facing calls to ensure forces of law and order never again capitulate to “street thugs who were threatening violence”.

Dame Karen Bradley, who chairs the committee, said: “It is an extraordinary measure to decide to ban fans from attending a fixture, particularly in the cultural and political climate that this occurred in. It is therefore crucial that the decision-making process, and the information underpinning it, is beyond reproach. Instead, there appears to have been a ‘that’ll do’ attitude. Banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would make policing the match much easier. To justify this step information that showed the Maccabi fans to be a high risk was trusted without proper scrutiny. Shockingly, this included unverified information generated by AI. While Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were falsely characterised as unusually violent, the threat posed by local communities was downplayed and too little care was given to the impact on the Jewish community in Birmingham.”

Dame Karen added: “Government intervention was clumsy and came too late, and we reject the Government’s argument that it could only intervene once the decision was taken. The profile of this fixture should have been obvious, and it seems that No.10, the Home Office and [the Department for Culture, Media and Sport] were indeed aware. But their intervention when it came did little more than inflame tensions.”

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy warned: “The Maccabi ban should serve as a sign of things to come if we surrender our criminal justice system to the politics of communalism. West Midlands Police bowed to the threat of not just political pressure, but the prospect of disorder and violence on the streets, while the Government knew about it but did nothing to stop it. If police forces and the Government want to restore the public’s trust in them, they must learn the lessons of this crisis and never let mob rule take hold again.”

Former Attorney General Sir Michael Ellis responded to the report, saying: “This is a devastating indictment of West Midlands Police over its outrageous ban of Israeli fans from England’s second city. The committee report is rightly scathing of the force’s failure to consult with the local Jewish population in contrast to its comprehensive engagement with everyone else.

“That is tantamount to a recognition that there was indeed two tier policing in this case. The findings of this report and what has happened in this case must act as a warning to other police forces of the harmful consequences of giving succour to divisive, partisan campaigns.”

Lord Austin, who resigned as a Labour MP in 2019 in protest at “antisemitism and intolerance”, said the police “capitulated to Islamist extremists, antisemites, sectarian politicians and street thugs who were threatening violence and then banned Jewish people and Israeli fans from attending a football match”.

He said: “It’s now vital that police forces across the country, not just the West Midlands, learn from this appalling scandal.”

A Reform UK spokesman said: “This report confirms what Reform UK has said all along. That the West Midlands Police acted incompetently and irresponsibly, using flawed intelligence to justify a deeply divisive and damaging decision, while the government simply capitulated under the threat antisemitic mob violence. We must not allow Islamists, thugs, or terrorists to believe they can dictate what happens on our streets.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the report showed the Home Secretary “was only informed that a ban on fans was one possible option before the decision was taken,” adding: “After that point, the Home Office sought to find ways by which fans could safely attend the game.

“It is important that we learn from the events of last autumn and what was a serious failure of leadership by West Midlands Police.”

WMP said in a statement that Acting Chief Constable Scott Green on his first day in office “issued a full and sincere apology on behalf of West Midlands Police for the damage caused to the public’s trust and confidence”.

*** Ensure our latest politics headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings. ***