Home secretary says she has lost confidence in West Midlands police boss after Israeli fan ban

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she has lost confidence in West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford, after a “damning” report into the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a match with Aston Villa last year

She says the force was guilty of “confirmation bias”, and that it overplayed the threat posed by Maccabi fans, and underplayed the threat to them in Birmingham. Here’s a recap of her Commons statement

Mahmood says she does not have the power to dismiss Guildford – saying it’s a matter for the local police and crime commissioner – but the government will reintroduce those powers for the home secretary

The commissioner says he will follow “due process” and give the matter “careful and detailed consideration”

Earlier, Guildford admitted AI was used in a report that led to the Israeli fans’ ban. The decision was taken by the Birmingham Safety Advisory Group – which police are part of

The report referenced a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham that never happened – pressed by MPs on two previous occasions, Chief Constable Craig Guildford denied that AI was involved

However, in a letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee released today, he admitted the mistake was the “result of a use of Microsoft Co Pilot” – an AI tool