West Midlands Police apologise to MPs for ‘confusion’ over Maccabi ban claims | EUROtoday

Policing leaders in Birmingham have apologised to MPs after wrongly suggesting members of the Jewish group had backed banning followers of an Israeli soccer crew attending an Aston Villa match.

West Midlands Police (WMP) admitted there was “no documented feedback” that British Jews wished Maccabi Tel Aviv followers barred from the sport at Villa Park earlier than it befell on 6 November.

Birmingham City Council has in the meantime stated it plans to fee an impartial assessment to be taught classes from the choice to bar Maccabi supporters from the match, which was taken by the native Safety Advisory Group (SAG) in October.

The resolution by SAG, which is made up of representatives from the council, police and different authorities, sparked political outrage together with from prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

West Midlands Police assistant chief constable Mike O’Hara earlier this month advised the Home Affairs Select Committee of MPs the police had been advised by members of the Jewish group they didn’t need Maccabi followers to attend the match.

In an announcement of clarification issued afterwards, WMP stated: “It was never the intention of the officer to imply that there were members of the Jewish community who had explicitly expressed support for the exclusion of Maccabi fans.”

Dame Karen Bradley, the Conservative chair of the committee, then wrote to the pressure asking it for additional clarification of what Mr O’Hara meant.

In a letter responding to the committee, WMP chief constable Craig Guildford stated: “We can confirm that there is no documented feedback from Jewish representatives prior to the decision being communicated, which expressed support for the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.”

However, he added that since Mr O’Hara appeared on the committee, he “has been approached by members of the Jewish community who expressed that they agree with the SAG decision”.

“Understandably, many community members chose to share their views privately, offering their support in confidence,” the chief constable stated.

He added: “O’Hara and I would like to take this opportunity to formally apologise to the Home Affairs Select Committee for any confusion caused and would like to reassure you that there was never any intention to mislead whatsoever.”

Elsewhere, in correspondence between Dame Karen and Birmingham City Council, the native authority stated it and the SAG had “learnt a great deal” from the fallout in regards to the match, and had been planning an impartial assessment.

Richard Brooks, govt director of metropolis operations on the council, added: “The Council and the SAG have been keen to learn from this experience and develop its processes for the future.

“Thus, the council and the SAG intend to commission a formal process of independent forward-looking review undertaken by an external law firm to ascertain what can be improved from a governance perspective.

“The review will be independent, headed by an individual with relevant experience from an independent law firm.”

Ahead of the match going down, Sir Keir stated he was doing “everything in his power” to make sure supporters of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv may help their crew at its match towards Aston Villa subsequent month after an preliminary ban – however finally the match went forward with out away followers.

The PM condemned the ban on Maccabi supporters travelling for the match as “the wrong decision”.

Amid continued scrutiny of the ban, residence secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered the policing watchdog to look at how forces in England and Wales present threat assessments to security advisory teams, which inform on measures round high-profile occasions.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services will hand its findings to Ms Mahmood by March 31.

Maccabi Tel Aviv has in the meantime confronted reprimand by European soccer governing physique Uefa over alleged discriminatory behaviour by its followers.

This month, the crew was given a suspended one-match away ban due to chanting by its followers, in addition to a nice of €20,000 (roughly £17,500).