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British MP Nicholas James Timothy has accused West Midlands Police of fabricating evidence to justify banning Israeli fans from attending a match at Villa Park. He said the force failed to provide clear justification and claimed the situation worsens “every day.” Timothy has called for Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford to resign amid mounting public scrutiny.
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00:00Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Do you ask the Home Secretary to make a statement on the adequacy
00:06of the evidence upon which West Midlands Police took decisions relating to the Aston Villa
00:10versus Maccabee Tel Aviv match? Minister. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Let me again acknowledge
00:18the concern and disappointment caused by the decision to ban away fans at Villa Park on the
00:246th of November. I recognise the continued strength of feeling within this House and in the country
00:30more widely and I welcome this opportunity to update members on the latest developments.
00:37The House will be aware that Chief Constable Craig Guildford, Assistant Chief Constable Mike O'Hara
00:42and the Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee
00:47last week. I am aware that Assistant Chief Constable Mike O'Hara has since apologised for
00:54some of his remarks in relation to Jewish community support for the decisions taken.
01:00He will need to set out his correction to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee directly
01:07and we will await of course the Committee's conclusions. Any suggestion that the intelligence
01:13gathering and community engagement led by West Midlands Police was anything other than of the
01:18highest standard would of course be a matter of profound concern. I am sure the House will
01:24understand. I remain limited in what I can say about the specific intelligence underpinning this
01:29decision whilst investigations continue. However, in my evidence to the Committee last week and to this
01:35House before then, I explained that the Home Secretary had already commissioned His Majesty's
01:40Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to review how forces in England and Wales provide
01:46risk assessment advice to local safety advisory groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high
01:51profile public events. That wider report will be returned to the Home Secretary by the 31st of March.
01:59And before then, I can confirm that HMICFRS will also provide a specific update on the intelligence
02:05gathered by the West Midlands Police on this matter and how it was used by the end of the year.
02:11Of course, operational independence is an important principle and one we must protect. At the same
02:17time, scrutiny and accountability are essential, especially when it comes to issues with clear
02:22implications for public safety and public confidence. It is absolutely right that West Midlands Police
02:28is asked to explain as fully as possible how this decision was reached. Sport is a source of joy and
02:34excitement for millions of people around the world. Football supporters should be able to follow their team,
02:40whatever their nationality, faith or background. That has been the clear and unequivocal stance
02:45of the Government throughout this episode and it will remain so.
02:49Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker and I thank the Minister for that response, including the news of
02:57the HMIC report by the end of the year. The police intelligence used to justify the ban on Israeli fans
03:04from Villa Park has fallen apart. So has the evidence given to the Select Committee by Chief Constable
03:09Craig Guilford and Assistant Chief Constable Mike O'Hara. The police say their information came from
03:14the Netherlands after Maghami Tel Aviv played IX last year, but the Dutch said the West Midlands
03:19intelligence report was, quote, not true. At the committee, the police repeated claims denied by the
03:24Dutch that the fans were militaristic, three people in the river and targeted Muslim civilians. They even said the
03:31Dutch police had lied under political pressure from their own mayor. We're asked to believe that the
03:36Dutch police lied to their own people, the media, their justice and security inspectorate, their
03:41mayor, their government and even their king were told the truth once in a Zoom call with West Midlands
03:46police which was never even minuted. The police again claimed the Dutch deployed 5,000 officers which is
03:52denied by the Dutch but admitted to the committee that they made up the number themselves. Asked if a fictional
03:58match cited in the intelligence report came from artificial intelligence, Craig Guilford told the
04:03committee not at all, but AI detection programmes conclude otherwise. And the police have already
04:12had to apologise for wrongly telling the committee the local Jewish community had supported the ban.
04:17Madam Deputy Speaker, there are many questions but I will limit myself to four.
04:21One, did the policing minister believe the evidence the police presented to the committee?
04:26Two, have the police replied to the letter she sent to them two weeks ago?
04:31Three, will she guarantee the publication of all relevant information and correspondence?
04:37And four, does the chief constable retain her confidence as policing minister and the
04:42confidence of the home secretary? The police are accused of fabricating evidence to justify a
04:48predetermined outcome demanded by Islamists. They've had weeks to defend themselves and failed to do so.
04:55This is fatal for public confidence in the police and in justice. And in my opinion, the chief constable must go.
05:01Minister Jones.
05:05Can I thank the Honourable Gentleman for his questions and for securing this urgent question today?
05:13I know that he will have watched the proceedings in the Home Affairs Select Committee with interest,
05:18and of course it will be for the committee to draw their own conclusions. As I said in my statement,
05:26I think it's right that the police clarify the latest reports that we heard over the weekend,
05:35sadly through the papers of a newspaper rather than proactively, but clarify what the situation is as
05:43regards to the engagement with the Jewish community and the conclusions that that came from those
05:48conversations. I think the the Honourable Member will hopefully understand that I don't want to
05:57express a judgment here when we have a very thorough process which is ongoing about the evidence that
06:06was gathered in order to reach the conclusion that that was reached in the case of the Villa match.
06:14It is absolutely right that HMICFRS are looking at this and I know he is frustrated, I can hear that he is,
06:22but it's right that they go through that process. It's right that they talk to whoever they need to
06:26talk to to get to the bottom of the pros and cons of the evidence, the way that he portrayed it, and the way that the West Midlands Police portrayed it,
06:35and we need to understand. I was also really clear that if it is the case that there is anything other than the highest standard in terms of what we
06:44would expect, that is a matter of profound concern. And it is also clear that mistakes have clearly been made in this process,
06:54not least the match, the fictitious match that the Honourable Gentleman referred to. So I want to get to
07:00the bottom of what happened. It's also the case that I have been on record praising West Midlands Police for
07:07things they have done in the past and wouldn't want to jump to those conclusions, but I do want to assure him
07:14that we will get to the bottom of this and we will act accordingly once we have that information. He asked whether
07:20the police responded to me, yes they did, and I think I can put that into the public domain should
07:29he want to see it, and he asked whether we will publish the relevant documentation. Of course we
07:39always want to publish what we can, and of course the Home Affairs Select Committee have asked some
07:44follow-up points already from that committee, and we will be very happy to provide it. And he asked
07:51whether I have confidence in the Chief Council, which I was asked last week, and I will repeat that
07:56I have seen some very good work in the West Midlands across a range of issues, but we need to get to the
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