West Midlands Police chief should go over Israeli football fans ban, says Badenoch

The chief constable of West Midlands Police (WMP) should lose his job over a decision to ban Israeli football fans from attending a match in Birmingham, a number of MPs and a leading Jewish organisation have said.

Senior police officers and city council leaders were questioned by MPs on Tuesday about why Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were stopped from being at Aston Villa's ground on 6 November. WMP insist it was on safety grounds, based on evidence of Maccabi supporters' previous behaviour.

But politicians including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and fellow Tory MP Nick Timothy said Craig Guildford's position was now untenable.

In a post on X, Badenoch said the force had "capitulated to Islamists", had known extremists were planning to attack Jewish people and blamed them instead.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews has called for the chief constable to be sacked, saying the force seemed to have made a decision to ban fans first and then "searched for evidence to justify it".

Guildford told the Home Affairs Committee the decision "wasn't influenced by politics".

He said he stood by the accuracy of intelligence which was key to the city's Safety Advisory Group (SAG), made up of people including police and council representatives, issuing the ban on away fans.

A letter from Dutch police, seen by the BBC, appears to question evidence WMP cited about Maccabi fans' behaviour at a match in Amsterdam.

The committee has said it will request further information from police in the Netherlands.

Members of the SAG deemed the Europa League match "high risk" because of unrest during previous Maccabi Tel Aviv matches.

The committee also heard police thought "vigilante groups" from the local community in Birmingham posed a threat to Maccabi fans.

"We got a lot of information or intelligence to suggest that people were going to actively seek out Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and would seek violence towards them," Assistant Chief Constable Mike O'Hara said.

Nick Timothy, Conservative MP for West Suffolk and an Aston Villa supporter, told BBC Radio WM there were two questions at the heart of the issue.

"Can we trust the police to do their job without fear or favour, which is what the policing oath demands of them, and who holds the power to decide important things in modern multi-cultural Britain?

"What seems to have happened here is that the police have bowed to pressure, not just political pressure, but the prospect of disorder and violence on the streets," he said.

"The official papers show that their primary concern at the beginning was the fact that local people would arm themselves and attack the visiting Israelis.

"And they used that information to ban the Israelis, but then fitted intelligence to claim that actually it was all to do with the unique violence of the Israelis themselves, and pin it on the Israelis."

Former MP for Dudley North Lord Ian Austin told the radio station: "I think what happened here is the police capitulated to Islamist extremists, antisemites, sectarian politicians and street thugs who were threatening violence.

"I think that they failed to do their job, which is to ensure people can go about their lawful business safely."

He added: "I think it is a disaster for Birmingham's reputation that the police banned Israeli fans from coming here, and then having made that decision... they went out and searched for evidence for it, they lied about it, they've misled the public and they've misled Parliament."

Lord Austin said he was "amazed" the chief constable was still in a job.

But Ron Winch, Associate Professor in Policing at Birmingham City University, said he did not think there should be resignations.

"Whether you agree or disagree with the decision that the force has made, they have tried to make this decision based on intelligence, and based with the best of intentions to keep communities safe."

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Labour's Simon Foster, said he would review any report or recommendations agreed by the Home Affairs Committee, and the oral evidence provided to the committee on 1 December 2025 and 6 January 2026.

Foster added he was awaiting reports by His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Fire and Rescue, commissioned by the home secretary, and had also requested a report for a meeting on 27 January where the chief constable and force would be held to account.

The match against Aston Villa, policed by more than 700 officers, passed off without serious disorder and only a handful of arrests.

Before the game, hundreds of pro-Palestinian supporters and a smaller group of pro-Israeli protesters gathered outside the ground waving banners and flags.

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