Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced she has lost confidence in West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford after a “damning” report found intelligence used to justify banning fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv from a match was “exaggerated or simply untrue”.
The inquiry, ordered by Mahmood and conducted by the policing inspectorate, concluded the force made a series of errors in gathering and handling intelligence. Mahmood stated the force had suffered a “failure of leadership” that “harmed the reputation and eroded public confidence in West Midlands police and policing more broadly”.
Mahmood noted that current law, introduced by the Conservatives, prevents her from dismissing a chief constable—only the local police and crime commissioner can do so. She pledged to introduce legislation restoring the Home Secretary's power to sack chief constables. The report, led by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke, found the force failed to adequately engage with the Jewish community before the ban decision.
Mahmood criticised Guildford directly, saying he should have ensured “more professional and thorough work” for such an important game. She quoted Sir Andy’s findings that the shortcomings were “symptomatic of a force not applying the necessary strategic oversight and not paying enough attention to important matters of detail, including at the most senior levels”. Mahmood declared it the first time in two decades a Home Secretary had expressed no confidence in a police leader.
The report did not find antisemitism motivated the force, but blamed confirmation bias. Mahmood also highlighted misleading communications, including Guildford’s incorrect claim to a parliamentary committee that AI tools were not used to prepare intelligence reports—later refuted by an officer who blamed an “AI hallucination”. The ban was based on interactions with Dutch police about Maccabi fans in Amsterdam, but Dutch police disputed key claims, including that fans threw people into a river. Mahmood stated that intelligence regarding police deployments, links to the Israeli Defense Forces, and targeting of Muslim communities was either exaggerated or untrue.
