The ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in November was a shameful episode. Fans were banned from attending a football match simply because they were Israeli.
Disgracefully, we now know that West Midlands police had evidence that Islamist extremists based in Birmingham planned to attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.
However, in order to justify the ban and avoid confronting the Islamist extremists, the police fabricated evidence to claim the Maccabi fans were dangerous. They claimed a previous game in Amsterdam had led to violence by Maccabi fans. This claim was a pack of lies from start to finish.
The Mayor of Amsterdam and the Dutch police have now confirmed that the West Midlands Police simply made up the whole thing. This is shocking.
We must call this what it is. It is vicious antisemitism. Rather than confront that threat honestly, West Midlands Police sought to deflect blame onto Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters themselves.
We cannot allow violent Islamists to impose their will on our country. We cannot hide behind protecting ‘community relations’, the police in this country must treat everybody equally under the law, and they must not be afraid to do so.
Now we know Islamist tentacles reached deep into the West Midlands police, the chief must go - Chris Philp
|Reuters
It is for all these reasons that the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police must be fired.
The Home Secretary claimed she has no powers to dismiss the Chief Constable. However, under Section 40 of the Police Act 1996, the Home Secretary has the power to direct the Police & Crime Commissioner, including to dismiss the Chief Constable. She must stop pretending to have no power and actually act.
We have seen throughout this saga that the Home Secretary missed opportunities to stop the ban on Maccabi fans. It was claimed that the Home Secretary only found out about the ban on the evening of October 16.
However, we now know that is totally untrue from evidence given to the Home Affairs select committee last week by the Chief Constable and by the Home Secretary’s own admission today.
It was revealed that the Chief Constable of Guildford personally briefed the Home Secretary on October 8 that it was likely the away fans would be banned. She inexcusably took no action. Today I asked her to apologise – she wouldn’t.
Shabana Mahmood bears direct responsibility for this disgrace. She must come clean about what she knew when and why she failed to take action.