Shabana Mahmood to address Commons in hours after being urged to sack police chief over banning Israeli fans from Villa match

Fans of the Israeli football team were banned from attending the Europa League match in November
Don't Miss
Most Read
Trending on GB News
Shabana Mahmood is set to address the House of Commons after receiving a report on the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from attending a match against Aston Villa.
The Home Secretary will make a statement to MP's later today after considering the Chief Inspectorate’s findings into the decision by West Midlands Police to bar Israeli fans from the Europa League game in Birmingham on November 6.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch have called for chief constable Craig Guildford to be sacked over the move.
A Home Office spokesman said: "The Home Secretary has this morning received the Chief Inspectorate’s findings into the recommendation by West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say

The Home Secretary will address MPs in the Commons today
|HOUSE OF COMMONS/PA
“She will carefully consider the letter and will make a statement in the House of Commons in response later today.”
Chief constable Guildford has been grilled by a cross-party group of MPs twice of the force's decision to bar the Israeli fans.
Force leaders last week defended their position at the Home Affairs Committee after being recalled to give further evidence over the move.
The decision by the local Safety Advisory Group – which is made up of representatives from the council, police and other authorities – sparked political outrage, including from Sir Keir Starmer.
Since then, doubts have been growing over the intelligence used by police, including disputes over the accuracy of information.
The committee heard West Midlands Police thought “vigilante groups” from the local community posed a threat to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans when it decided to ban them from the game.
The force had information from as early as September 5 last year that the Israeli visitors would be targeted with “violence”, MPs were told.
Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara said: “We got a lot of information intelligence to suggest that people were going to actively seek out Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and would seek violence towards them.

Chief constable Guildford has been grilled by a cross-party group of MPs twice of the force's decision to bar the Israeli fans
|HOUSE OF COMMONS/PA
“So we had sort of like a bubbling position locally.
“We had people purporting to be Maccabi fans online who were goading local community members and saying, ‘this is what you’re going to get’.
“This was all forming part of the heat of the situation, so based on that, the commanders tried to make the right decision.”
Shortly after it was confirmed Ms Mahmood would address MPs, Mr Guildford admitted misleading members of the Home Affairs Committee by using AI.

Protests were sparked outside Villa Park on the evening of the November 6 match
|PA
In a letter to Home Affairs Committee Chairwoman Dame Karen Bradley, Mr Guildford said: "On Friday afternoon, I became aware that the erroneous result concerning the West Ham v Maccabi Tel Aviv match arose as a result of a use of Microsoft Co Pilot.
"Both ACC O’Hara and I had, up until Friday afternoon, understood that the West Ham match had only been identified through the use of Google.
"This will be further explained in the additional material being provided to the Committee.
"I would like to offer my profound apology to the Committee for this error, both on behalf of myself and that of ACC O’Hara.
"I had understood and been advised that the match had been identified by way of a Google search in preparation for attending HAC.
"My belief that this was the case was honestly held and there was no intention to mislead the Committee."
Despite a growing number of MPs calling on Ms Mahmood to sack Mr Guildford, West Midlands police commissioner Simon Foster blasted MPs for alleged bias against the chief constable.
Removal of a Chief Constable is a power held only by the PCC, following reforms introduced in 2011 that stripped the Home Secretary of their power to remove Chief Constables.
More From GB News










