A senior police officer has issued a formal apology after giving evidence to MPs that appeared to falsely suggest Jewish community leaders in Birmingham supported a controversial ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a football match last month.
Misleading Evidence to Select Committee
West Midlands Police assistant chief constable Mike O'Hara told the Home Affairs Select Committee last week that concerns from the religious community contributed to the decision to bar supporters of the Israeli football team from their Europa League fixture at Villa Park on 6 November. The ban provoked a significant backlash, with accusations that officials were capitulating to extremist pressure.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among those who condemned the move, stating: 'We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.' However, the force now stands accused of using the community as a shield to avoid scrutiny.
Apology and Retraction
Sources within Birmingham's Jewish community have since claimed there was no 'meaningful consultation' before the ban was enacted. One source told The Sunday Times that O'Hara's comments represented a 'twisted' distortion of the facts and that consultation had been minimal.
In response, ACC O'Hara has written to representatives of the city's Jewish community to apologise. In a letter seen by the newspaper, he emphasised he had 'no intention' of implying its members 'had explicitly expressed support for the exclusion of Maccabi fans'. He accepted it was 'not the case' that Jewish community members had supported the ban and pledged to clarify this to MPs in further written questions.
Intelligence and Fallout
During the same committee hearing, West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford defended the ban, stating it was partly based on police intelligence from Amsterdam regarding a Maccabi match against Ajax last year. A dossier cited incidents including fans throwing members of the public into a river and deliberately targeting Muslim communities.
However, Dutch police have reportedly disputed the accuracy of this information, and the Israeli embassy in London accused British police of relying on incorrect intelligence. Despite this, Constable Guildford insisted Dutch commanders were 'unequivocal' in warning they would not want to host Maccabi Tel Aviv again.
A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: 'We recognise that this has been a difficult time for our local Jewish community, we therefore have and continue to actively engage.' The force stated it would provide further clarification to the Home Affairs Select Committee and cooperate with an inspection commissioned by the Home Secretary.
