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birmingham police leaders Apologizes to MP after incorrectly advising MP jewish community Support ban on fans israel football team attend a Aston Villa game.
West Midlands Police (WMP) Admits ‘no documented feedback’ suggesting British Jews want Maccabi Tel Aviv fans banned from games Match at Villa Park Before November 6 happened.
Meanwhile, Birmingham City Council said it planned to commission an independent review to draw lessons from the local Safety Advisory Group (Sag) decision in October to ban Maccabi fans from attending games.
The decision by the Sag, which is made up of representatives from parliament, police and other authorities, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, sparked political outrage.
West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara told MPs’ home affairs select committee earlier this month that members of the Jewish community told police they did not want Maccabi fans attending the game.
In a subsequent clarification statement, WMP said: “The official did not intend to suggest that there were members of the Jewish community who had expressed unequivocal support for the exclusion of Maccabi fans.”
Dame Karen Bradley, the committee’s Conservative chairperson, subsequently wrote to the police asking for further clarification on what ACC O’Hara meant.
In a letter to the committee, WMP chief constable Craig Guildford said: “We can confirm that there was no written feedback from Jewish representatives in support of the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before the decision was communicated.”
However, he added that since ACC O’Hara appeared on the committee, “members of the Jewish community have contacted him to express their agreement with Sagittarius’s decision”.
“Understandably, many community members have chosen to share their views privately and offer their support confidentially,” the police chief said.
He added: “ACC O’Hara and I would like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to the Home Affairs Select Committee for any confusion caused and assure you that we never had any intention to mislead.”
Elsewhere, the local authority said in correspondence between Mrs Karen and Birmingham City Council that the local authority and Sagittarius had “learned a lot” from the aftermath of the match and planned an independent review.
Richard Brooks, executive director of city operations at the council, added: “The council and Sag have been keen to learn from this experience and develop processes for the future.
“The Council and Sag therefore intend to commission a formal independent forward-looking review by an external law firm to identify areas that can be improved from a governance perspective.
“The review will be independent and led by individuals with relevant experience from independent law firms.”
Before the game starts, sir Kyle say he is do their best to ensure Supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel can support their team during the match against Israel aston villa The game eventually went ahead without visiting fans the next month after the initial ban.
The Prime Minister condemned the decision to ban Maccabi fans from attending the game as a “wrong decision”.
Amid an ongoing review of the ban, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered the police watchdog to examine how forces in England and Wales provide risk assessments to security advisory groups that inform measures around high-profile incidents.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services will hand over its findings to Ms Mahmood by March 31.
Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv has been reprimanded by European football’s governing body UEFA over alleged discriminatory behavior by its fans.
This month, the team was suspended for one away match and fined €20,000 (approximately £17,500) for fans chanting.