Home secretary urges West Midlands police chief to resign after fan‑ban report

The U.K. home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said the West Midlands Police chief constable "no longer has my confidence" and pressed him to resign after an independent watchdog found the force overstated the threat posed by Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters before a match in Birmingham. Andy Cooke, head of Britain’s independent police watchdog, published a preliminary report saying West Midlands Police provided misleading information when it recommended banning Maccabi fans from the Nov.

6 match against Aston Villa. The force told the public safety committee to offer no tickets to Maccabi supporters after citing violence linked to a November 2024 match in Amsterdam; Mr. Cooke concluded some numbers and details in the police assessment were exaggerated. Mr. Cooke said he found no evidence that antisemitism "played any part" in the police actions, but that confirmation bias had influenced their assessment and the force missed opportunities to effectively engage the local Jewish community.

West Midlands Police apologised for the "unintentional" errors, and some Maccabi fans later obtained tickets outside official allocations after the club declined its allocation amid anger and agitation from far‑right groups. Ms. Mahmood said she would introduce legislation to give herself the power to fire police chiefs, a power removed from the home secretary in 2011, telling Parliament she did not expect to use it often but that it must be available when warranted.

Key Topics

Politics, Shabana Mahmood, West Midlands Police, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Aston Villa, Andy Cooke