A group of MPs has found the Government’s response to West Midlands Police’s ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was “clumsy”, “delayed” and “did little more than inflame tensions”.
A Home Affairs Select Committee report published on Sunday analyzed the original decision to ban fans from November’s Europa League match against Aston Villa, as well as the advice that led to it.
The report concluded that West Midlands Police (WMP) was “misinformed” and “failed to pay even basic attention” to its intelligence.
The committee criticized the Home Office, which, despite being informed less than a week before announcing the possible ban, “failed to recognize and properly raise the significance of the decision”.
“By intervening only after the decision to ban the fans, the government increased tension around the fixture, but the government was ineffective in getting Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to attend the match, reflecting negatively on the home office culture,” the report said.
The ban on Israeli club fans by the council-led Security Advisory Group (SAG) caused widespread outrage at the time. Keir Starmer said it was “wrong” and suggested it amounted to anti-Semitism.
Committee chair Dame Karen Bradley said the profile of the fixture “needs to be clear” to the government before a ban is announced.
“The government’s intervention was clumsy and came too late, and we reject the government’s argument that it can only intervene after a decision has been made,” the Conservative MP said. “When it came down to it their intervention did little more than inflame tensions.”
The committee also strongly criticized the WMP for “relying heavily on inaccurate and unverified information about Maccabi Tel Aviv fans”. In particular, the use of artificial intelligence in the force’s intelligence gathering has reinforced “false narratives”.
Officials were forced to apologize to the committee in January after it recovered false information fed into its intelligence using Microsoft Copilot – a fictitious match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham United. The head constable had previously told MPs that the force did not use AI.
The investigation found that the actions of the police had “caused serious damage to faith… particularly in the local Jewish community, as well as public confidence”.
An interim report by Sir Andy Cook, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, was published in January and found police were subject to “confirmation bias” in their estimates.
The force’s chief constable, Craig Guildford, was forced to resign with immediate effect following the publication of the report and the Home Secretary’s withdrawal of confidence. Both the force and the police watchdog in Guildford are still investigating possible misconduct.
“There seems to be a ‘do it’ attitude,” Bradley said. “Banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would make the match too easy. To justify this step, information that showed Maccabi fans were at high risk was believed without proper scrutiny.
“Although Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have been wrongly characterized as unusually violent, the threat from local communities has been minimal and little attention has been paid to the impact on the Jewish community in Birmingham.”
The committee found no evidence that anti-Semitism was a motivating factor, but noted that the failure to consult the community had “damaged relations”. It also said it found no evidence of “conspiracy” but “suggestions that political pressure played a role in the decision cannot be ruled out”.
In particular, it cited the attendance of councilors with a “declared political objective” as having “a disproportionate opportunity to influence Security Advisory Group decision-making on a deeply divisive political issue”.
The committee made several recommendations to the government and the police force, including banning elected politicians from sitting on SAGs to rebuild trust with the Jewish community.
A WMP spokesman said: “We are fully committed to learning from these events and have already made proactive efforts through a series of meetings with key local representatives to repair any damage caused by a loss of public confidence in us.”
Councilor John Cotton, Leader of Birmingham City Council, welcomed the report and said: “It is important that we all work together to rebuild trust, particularly with Jewish communities, and I have already met the Acting Chief Constable to make that clear. I am encouraged by the initial steps he is taking to rebuild trust and confidence.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
