West Midlands Police spends £2.8M on ‘variety’ then banned Jews from match | Politics | News | EUROtoday

West Midlands Police splashed practically £2.8million on variety schemes but nonetheless banned Jewish soccer followers from a match understanding extremists deliberate to assault them. The power spent practically £2.6million on salaries for variety, equality and inclusion workers, and an extra £184,602 on coaching between 2019 and 2025.

But the huge funding failed to stop what Jewish leaders branded a “disgraceful” resolution to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv followers from attending a match in opposition to Aston Villa in November final 12 months, moderately than defend them from threatened violence. The transfer drew robust criticism from Conservative chief Kemi Badenoch, who mentioned the power “knew extremists were planning to attack Jews for going to a football match” however their response was to “blame and remove Jewish people instead”.

There have been mounting requires Chief Constable Craig Guildford to resign, with reviews circulating at present that the Home Secretary could also be contemplating sacking him. It follows a Home Affairs Committee inquiry which heard damning proof that the police had made the choice to ban the followers first, then sought to search out justification for doing so afterwards.

Chair Dame Karen Bradley MP accused officers of deceptive Parliament after they falsely claimed 600 Maccabi followers attacked Muslim neighbourhoods in Amsterdam, a declare Dutch authorities refuted, saying provocations got here “from both sides”. Police additionally exaggerated Amsterdam’s police deployment from 800-1,200 officers to five,000 to justify their place.

Most damningly, officers falsely claimed native Jewish neighborhood leaders supported the ban – a declare formally denied by Ruth Jacobs, chair of Birmingham and West Midlands Jewish Community. The Israeli Foreign Ministry referred to as the conduct “utterly disgraceful”, including: “There is a specific term for the phenomenon of scapegoating Israelis and Jews while exonerating the true perpetrators – jihadists seeking to harm Jews. It is called antisemitism.”

The controversy has raised critical questions in regards to the position of Green Lane Mosque in police decision-making.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford was appointed in 2022 after showing earlier than a panel that included representatives from the mosque, which was additionally consulted in regards to the Maccabi fan ban. Green Lane Mosque has beforehand confronted criticism after a speaker mentioned males can bodily self-discipline their wives.

The power’s FOI response states it needs to “enhance equality of opportunity and equality of access for all who live and work in the West Midlands”. Annual DEI spending peaked in 2023 with £542,233 in wage prices alone, while workers positions grew from simply two full-time equal roles in 2019 to eight.72 by 2023.

The power has since scaled again, with simply 4 DEI positions remaining in 2025. West Midlands Police was contacted for remark.