Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has declared she has lost confidence in West Midlands Chief Constable Craig Guildford following a damning report into the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a match against Aston Villa. The inquiry, ordered by Mahmood and conducted by the policing inspectorate, found that intelligence used to justify the ban was “exaggerated or simply untrue”.
The report, led by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke, highlighted a series of errors in how the force gathered and handled intelligence. Mahmood stated that the force had a “failure of leadership” that “harmed the reputation and eroded public confidence in West Midlands police and policing more broadly”. She noted it was the first time in two decades a home secretary had declared no confidence in a police leader.
The inquiry did not find evidence of antisemitism, as some had alleged, but blamed confirmation bias. It said the force stopped being open-minded, interpreting new information as confirmation of existing beliefs. Mahmood criticised Guildford for claiming at a select committee that AI tools were not used to prepare intelligence reports, a claim later refuted by an officer who blamed an “AI hallucination”.
West Midlands police had argued they were willing to let Maccabi fans attend the November 2025 game until they spoke to Dutch police about the Israeli side’s previous match in Amsterdam in November 2024. The force claimed Dutch police said Maccabi fans were perpetrators of violence, not victims, but Dutch police and other groups strongly dispute this. Sir Andy’s report found that key claims, such as fans throwing people into a river and links to the Israeli Defense Forces, were inaccurate.
Mahmood said law changes under the Conservatives meant she lacked the power to dismiss a chief constable, as only the local police and crime commissioner could do so. She announced plans to restore the home secretary’s power to sack chief constables through new legislation. The report also criticised the force for failing to engage sufficiently with the Jewish community before the ban decision.
