Home secretary says she has no confidence in police chief after Maccabi football fan ban

The home secretary has said she no longer has confidence in the chief constable of West Midlands Police after a "damning" report into the force's decision to ban Israeli football fans from attending a game in the UK.

Shabana Mahmood told MPs a review by a police watchdog into the force showed "confirmation bias" over the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending the match at Villa Park in November. Ms Mahmood also expressed frustration that she was not able to sack chief constable Craig Guildford herself.

Politics latest - follow live The home secretary does not have the power to hire or fire chief constables, as this is now held by police and crime commissioners - a role being scrapped by the government. Ms Mahmood said new statutory powers allowing a home secretary to force the resignation of chief constables on the grounds of their performance are planned.

What does the report say? Speaking in the Commons, Ms Mahmood outlined the key contents of the report, written by Sir Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of Constabulary. The cabinet minister said: "The force, we now discover, conducted little engagement with the Jewish community, and none with the Jewish community in Birmingham before a decision was taken.

"Andy describes an approach taken by West Midlands Police that he characterises as, and I quote, 'confirmation bias'. "This means that rather than follow the evidence, the force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans." She pointed out the force failed to speak to police forces in other countries such as Greece, Ukraine and Denmark "where Maccabi Tel Aviv had played more recently and more peacefully".

Ms Mahmood called the force's communications with the Dutch police "one of the most disquieting elements" of the report. She said: "The summary, provided as evidence to the Safety Advisory Group ahead of their crucial meeting on the 24th of October, was inaccurate.

"Claims including the number of police officers deployed, links between fans and the Israeli Defence Forces, the targeting of Muslim communities, the mass tearing down of Palestinian flags, attacks on police officers and on taxi drivers were all either exaggerated or simply untrue." Sir Andy's report also highlighted issues about poor-record keeping and mishandling of sensitive information by the force. "He shows that the police overstated the threat posed by the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, while understating the risk that was posed to the Israeli fans if they travelled to the area," she added.

Turning to the issue of the chief constable directly, she accused him of "misleading communications" and a "failure of leadership.