MP defends ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending Aston Villa game

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00:00Well, there's two distinct issues. One is the safety aspect. And I've made my position very

00:05clear that if the police in West Midlands finds it challenging because they simply do not have

00:12the resources to ensure safety, then that's one aspect. The second aspect is one of, as I say,

00:19a moral argument that Maccabi Tel Aviv football club should not even be playing within this

00:26international competition. But the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans don't speak for the government of

00:31Israel, do they? Well, they don't. So isn't it anti-Semitic to suggest they do? Absolutely not.

00:37And therein lies the conflation. We jump to the issue of anti-Semitism. I mean, for example,

00:45the West Midlands police are being labelled as anti-Semitic when you look at the social media.

00:50They're doomed if they do and doomed if they don't. So you're saying the Prime Minister's got it wrong

00:54when he says we won't tolerate anti-Semitism on our streets. You're saying he's conflating two

00:59issues. Absolutely. I mean, you should look at the video footages that came out of Amsterdam. I mean,

01:05Amsterdam Council has decided to ban the sports club from participating in the future. I mean,

01:11we're talking about some very, very vile fans in that club. And of course, look, I for one will say

01:19that there are bound to be a significant number of fans that just want to enjoy football.

01:24And unfortunately, it's very difficult to decipher which are the fans that are not going to cause

01:30problems vis-a-vis those that will.