Police chief behind Maccabi Tel Aviv ban clings to job despite home secretary wanting him to quit | Police

The police chief who used “exaggerated and untrue” intelligence to justify a ban on Israeli football fans was continuing his job on Wednesday despite the interior minister calling for his resignation.

West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford is determined to stay in his job for now, despite a war of words that ended with Shabana Mahmood saying she had lost confidence in him, the Guardian understands.

It is the first time an interior minister has said this about a serving police leader in 20 years and it follows a report criticizing the force’s handling of intelligence used to justify a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match at Aston Villa in November.

Mahmood told the House of Commons he had no power to oust Guildford and called for the law to be changed so the home secretary could again sack chief constables. Such a move would be controversial, with Reform leading in the polls and promising to reduce police operational independence.

The report, by chief inspector of constabulary Sir Andy Cooke, found numerous errors in the way the West Midlands force gathered intelligence about the risks of Maccabi fans coming to Birmingham.

The report said the threat had been “hugely exaggerated” and left a security committee relying on police intelligence “with little or no option” but to ban them.

He said the organization made misleading statements not through anti-Semitism but through “carelessness rather than deliberate distortion” and “confirmation bias.” Nor was it because Israel had bowed to political pressure from those outraged in Birmingham over its alleged genocide in Gaza.

The report faulted the force’s leadership, and Mahmood was even harsher, saying: “Faced with such a momentous game, the force’s chief, Craig Guildford, should have ensured a more professional and comprehensive study.

“As Sir Andy himself said, the ‘deficiencies’ detailed in his report are, and I quote, ‘symptomatic of a power failing to exercise necessary strategic oversight and paying insufficient attention to important details, including at the highest levels’.

“Ultimate responsibility for the police force’s failure to fulfill its duties on a matter of such national importance lies with the chief constable, and that is why I must declare today that the chief constable of the West Midlands no longer trusts me.”

A senior police source said Guildford was a “dead man walking” and his mistakes had “bewildered” investigators, the home secretary and officials.

The only man who can bring down Guildford is West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster.

He praised Guildford for improving the force’s performance and service to the public. He said he would consider Cooke’s second report, which is expected from the police inspectorate and MPs on the home affairs committee, which will subject Guildford to a public inquiry on January 27.

The Guardian understands Guildford does not believe the home secretary’s demands would require his immediate resignation. It will wait to see whether Foster decides to initiate the dismissal process. The force leadership believes its decisions have kept the public safe but admits there are clear lessons to be learned.

At the center of the police ban case was the officers’ claim that Dutch police had told them about a Maccabi match being played in Amsterdam in 2024. Guildford and his forces believed that Maccabi fans were the perpetrators of violence; The report stated that he falsely accused them even though he knew information to the contrary.

Dutch police testimony about the investigation, released by the Guardian on Monday, significantly undermined the agency’s credibility with Cooke; They disputed many of the allegations allegedly made by them and relied upon by the UK police.

Mahmood said: “West Midlands police’s relationship with Dutch police is one of the most disturbing elements of Sir Andy’s report. “The summary given in evidence to the security advisory group was… inaccurate.

“Allegations including the number of police officers deployed, links between fans and the Israel Defense Forces, targeting of Muslim communities, mass destruction of Palestinian flags [in Amsterdam]The attacks on police officers and taxi drivers were all either exaggerated or completely untrue.”

The security group was told that Maccabi fans were throwing Muslims into the river. In fact, an Israeli fan had been thrown into the water and Cooke said he knew British police had read official Dutch reports.

Mahmood said Cooke’s findings showed that “police overestimated the threat posed by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans while underestimating the risk posed by Israeli fans if they traveled to the area” following intelligence that some people in Birmingham were preparing to take up arms.

Guildford have apologized after their force’s intelligence reports included a Maccabi match against West Ham that never took place. Cooke said one officer described the error as an “AI hallucination.”

West Midlands police said: “We know errors were made but we reiterate our findings that none of them were made with deliberate distortion or discrimination.

“West Midlands Police is an anti-discrimination organization and our planning for this football match has always been about the public safety of all communities.”

Ruth Jacobs, president of the Jewish Community of Birmingham and West Midlands, said of Guildford: “I think the majority of the community will feel that this is the right time to go, given all the terrible things that have come out.”

While Foster said he would wait, the leader of Birmingham council and the Labor West Midlands mayor said Guildford should go.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said: “Major questions remain unanswered about the timing, logic and evidence of the decisions taken by the police and the Birmingham safety advisory group.

“Since the decision to suspend fans, explanations have changed, evidence has been withdrawn and HMIC [His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary] The report highlights further failures and inconsistencies.

“Public trust in policing depends on openness, transparency and accountability. Recent events have seriously undermined this trust.

“I do not believe the superintendent’s position is defensible.”

Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, also said the police chief should go: “You cannot appear to be misleading a committee and that is not acceptable in high public authority. If I can find the clear facts, why can’t the West Midlands police?”

Independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr Ayoub Khan said Guildford was the victim of a “witch hunt” and “thrown under the bus”. He insisted West Midlands police “have a reputation for working with all communities” and “never bow to community pressure”.

The Israeli embassy said Maccabi Tel Aviv fans should receive an “appropriate apology” and “concrete” steps should be taken to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future. The statement said: “We are encouraged that the truth has now come to light and welcome the commitment to transparency, accountability and restoring public trust.”