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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has expressed a clear lack of confidence in West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford following the controversial decision to ban Israeli football fans from attending a match against Aston Villa. Mahmood condemned the police leadership, citing a critical review by the policing watchdog that revealed serious flaws in the intelligence used to justify the ban. She described these findings as indicative of a broader “failure of leadership” within the force.
The West Midlands Police has issued an apology, stating that it did not intentionally manipulate the evidence presented to Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group, which made the final call on the fan ban for the November 6 game. Though Guildford remains in his role, he is set to face questioning by Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster on January 27, who holds the authority to decide on the chief constable’s future. Mahmood also announced to Parliament her intention to reinstate the power for home secretaries to dismiss chief constables who fail their communities.
At the heart of the controversy is the intelligence report prepared by the police, which included false information such as an event involving Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham that never occurred. Guildford has since apologized for providing inaccurate evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee and admitted that artificial intelligence tools had been used to gather some of the data, contrary to earlier statements that the force relied solely on a Google search. In his letter to the committee chair, Guildford acknowledged the error originated from using Microsoft’s Copilot AI and apologized profoundly.
The interim investigation by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke, uncovered “confirmation bias” within the police intelligence gathering, noting the force selectively sought information supporting the fan ban while neglecting engagement with the local Jewish community. Sir Andy’s report highlighted multiple inaccuracies in the police evidence, such as overstating the threat from the Israeli fans and downplaying the risks they faced. This mishandling of intelligence has drawn political criticism, including from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, although Guildford denies any political interference. Meanwhile, community groups like the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews have called for Guildford’s immediate dismissal, labeling the episode as symptomatic of deeper issues affecting police decision-making
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