Home Secretary expecting report next week into police intelligence gathering ahead of Maccabi game

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood expects to receive a report next week looking into information and intelligence gathering by West Midlands Police ahead of the controversial decision to ban Israeli fans from a game in Birmingham, it has been confirmed.

A Downing Street spokesperson declined to comment on whether Keir Starmer still has confidence in the leadership of the police force for the UK’s second city, following a heavily criticised appearance in front of a select committee of MPs by West Midlands chief inspector Craig Guilford and his senior team.

The Prime Minister had previously described the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the match against Aston Villa last November as “wrong”, but on Wednesday, his spokesperson told Jewish News leadership and operational decisions are “rightly independent of government and for the force to respond to” after being questioned on his reaction to Tuesday’s Home Affairs Select Committee hearing.

The spokesperson added: “You’ll be aware that the Home Office commissioned an Inspectorate report to investigate the information and intelligence gathering ahead of the match by West Midlands Police.

“The Home Secretary expects an update from the inspectorate next week. She’ll receive that in writing, and she’ll then interrogate this before any further response is made.

“The Home Office will provide further updates to the select committee and wider.”

On Tuesday, the Committee heard police confirm that intelligence from last September suggested  “vigilante groups” from the local community in Birmingham posed a threat to Maccabi fans.

“We got a lot of information or intelligence to suggest that people were going to actively seek out Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and would seek violence towards them,” Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara said.

Asked by Labour MP Peter Prinsley why this information had not been provided to the committee, Guildford suggested it was because police had not been asked.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were stopped from being at Aston Villa’s ground on 6 November. WMP insist it was on safety grounds, based on evidence of Maccabi supporters’ previous behaviour.

Politicians, including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and fellow Tory MP Nick Timothy, said Guildford’s position was now untenable.

In a post on X Badenoch said the force had “capitulated to Islamists”, had known extremists were planning to attack Jewish people and blamed them instead.

The Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council also called for the chief constable to be sacked, saying the force seemed to have decided to ban fans first and then “searched for evidence to justify it”.

Guildford told the Home Affairs Committee the decision “wasn’t influenced by politics”.

He said he stood by the accuracy of intelligence, which was key to the city’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG), made up of people including police and council representatives, issuing the ban on away fans.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Labour’s Simon Foster, said he would review any report or recommendations agreed by the Home Affairs Committee, and the oral evidence provided to the committee on 1 December 2025 and 6 January 2026.

Foster added he was awaiting reports by His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Fire and Rescue, commissioned by the home secretary, and had also requested a report for a meeting on 27 January, where the chief constable and force would be held to account.

The match against Aston Villa, policed by more than 700 officers, passed off without serious disorder and only a handful of arrests.