Birmingham City Council & West Midlands Police ban Jews from watching football match...

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Minister to meet officials over 'unacceptable' decision to block Tel Aviv fans



The culture secretary will meet officials on Friday to discuss the "utterly unacceptable" decision to block Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a football match in Birmingham, a government minister has said.

Aston Villa said on Thursday the city's Safety Advisory group - responsible for issuing safety certificates - advised that fans of the Israeli club would not be permitted to attend the 6 November Europa League match.

The decision, supported by West Midlands Police, was criticised by Sir Keir Starmer.

Minister Ian Murray said "we will do everything we possibly can to resolve this issue" while the West Midlands police commissioner said he had requested an immediate review of the decision.

Sir Keir said on Thursday evening banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the fixture was the "wrong decision", writing on X: "We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded the move a "national disgrace" and suggested Sir Keir should act to reverse it.

"If not, it sends a horrendous and shameful message: there are parts of Britain where Jews simply cannot go," she said.

Murray said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy "will be meeting with the Home Office and other stakeholders today to try and see if there's a way through" the decision, which he called "just completely and utterly unacceptable".

On Friday, Simon Foster, West Midlands' Police and Crime Commissioner, asked Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group and the police to meet "at the earliest possible opportunity and conduct an immediate review of the decision".

He said the purpose of the review was to determine "whether or not this decision and recommendation is appropriate, necessary, justified, reasonable and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim".

Aston Villa said it was in "continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities," with the safety of supporters and local residents "at the forefront of any decision".

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Boss of council behind ban on Tel Aviv fans ‘used anti-Semitic slur’



The boss of the council behind a ban on Israeli football fans from Villa Park was previously accused of calling a property agent “a massive Jewish b---end”.

Joanne Roney, the managing director of Birmingham city council, is accused of making the anti-Semitic comment while working at another local authority.

Birmingham council has faced backlash after the city’s safety advisory group blocked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a Europa League game against Aston Villa on Nov 6.

Fans of the Israeli club were told on Thursday that they would be barred from watching their team at Villa Park following a recommendation from West Midlands Police to the advisory group.

The force had declared the fixture “high-risk”, saying the warning was informed by violence last November when the Israeli club travelled to play Ajax Amsterdam.

The safety advisory group is chaired by Birmingham city council’s head of resilience and is responsible for issuing safety certificates for football matches. The head of resilience ultimately works for Ms Roney.

Ms Roney is alleged to have made the anti-Semitic comment in 2022, while she was head of Manchester city council. It was allegedly made about property agent Ben Rose, who is not Jewish but worked for Weis Group, an Orthodox Jewish landowner.

At the time, the group was in a dispute with Greater Manchester Combined Authority over claims that the authority had given loans to a large developer and had “distorted” the property market.

Mr Rose filed a legal claim against Manchester city council and Ms Roney. The local authority denies the claim for damages and unlawful discrimination. A trial will be held in the civil court later this year.

He told the Manchester Evening News in January: “As a property professional seeking nothing else but a fair and equitable outcome for my client, this is not the sort of case I ever expected to bring.

“However, I believe that anti-Semitism has no place in our society, particularly within organs of Government. As there are active legal proceedings now live, I cannot comment on the case in detail. However, I put my faith in the courts to uncover the truth of what was said.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/17/birmingham-council-boss-tel-aviv-fans-ban-anti-semitic-slur/

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Mahmood has no confidence in police chief after Israeli fan ban



Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she has lost confidence in West Midlands Police's chief constable after Israeli football fans were banned from a match against Aston Villa.

Mahmood told MPs a "damning" review from the policing watchdog over the intelligence that led to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned showed a "failure of leadership".

The force has apologised saying it did not deliberately distort evidence that was used by Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group for the 6 November game.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford remains in post, but faces a meeting on 27 January to be questioned by Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster who has the authority to sack him.

Mahmood told the Commons on Wednesday she intended to restore the power for home secretaries to dismiss chief constables "who fail their communities".

Guildford has written a letter, in which he apologised for providing incorrect evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee, which included the denial that AI was used in a report that led to the Israeli fans' ban.

Mahmood told MPs His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke had found "confirmation bias" in police intelligence gathering.

She said: "The force, we now discover, conducted little engagement with the Jewish community and none with the Jewish community in Birmingham before a decision was taken."

Sir Andy's interim report, commissioned by Mahmood, found that "rather than follow the evidence, the force sought only the details to support their desired position to ban the fans," Mahmood told MPs.

"He shows that the police overstated the threat posed by the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, while understating the risk that was posed to the Israeli fans if they travelled to the area," she said.

Sir Andy's review found eight inaccuracies in a report from the force to Birmingham's safety group, including a reference to the non-existent Tel Aviv-West Ham game.

Others included overstating the number of Dutch police officers deployed during a Maccabi match in Amsterdam and claims Muslim communities had been intentionally targeted by Tel Aviv fans.

The decision on the ban from the safety group - which is made up of representatives from the council, police and other authorities - prompted political outrage, including from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Guildford has insisted the decision was not politically influenced.

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This isn't the first controversy Guildford has been mired in.

Police chair suspended over 'nonsense' racism post

West Midlands' Police chief's 'retire and re-join' move defended

At least 30 West Midlands Police stations to shut...

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Cotton piles pressure on West Midlands Police chief to stand down

Birmingham City Council’s Labour leader John Cotton has called for the chief constable of West Midlands Police, Craig Guildford, to stand down.

It comes after a highly critical preliminary review into the decision to ban Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv's fans from a match against Aston Villa last year.

Source: https://www.localgov.co.uk/Cotton-piles-pressure-on-West-Midlands-Police-chief-to-stand-down/63701

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Nick Timothy named as shadow justice secretary



Conservative MP Nick Timothy, who has been vocal in his criticism of West Midlands Police, has been named shadow justice secretary by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

Timothy, an Aston Villa fan, has called for Chief Constable Guildford to lose his job over the force's safety advice concerning the Maccabi match.

In a post on X, Badenoch says Timothy has "led the way in revealing the failure of West Midlands Police Chief over the Maccabi football ban", describing him as a "true Conservative" and a "formidable campaigner".

It follows the sacking of former shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick over claims he was plotting to defect from the Conservative Party.

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No 10 no longer has confidence in Guildford as he faces mounting calls to resign



West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford is facing mounting calls to resign after Israeli football fans were banned from a match against Aston Villa.

Downing Street says it "no longer" has confidence in Guildford, but his future is "ultimately a decision" for the police and crime commissioner.

It comes after Guildford apologised for providing incorrect evidence to MPs, which twice included the denial that AI was used in a report that led to fans being banned.

A interim review by the policing watchdog into the force's intelligence gathering found "confirmation bias" influenced the decision to ban Maccabi fans.

The list of errors in the decision-making that led to the ban was described by the home secretary as "damning".

But this is not about a football match, this is about the integrity of British policing, writes our correspondent Lucy Manning.

My guess is he won't 'resign' until they offer him a huge payout?