Wes Streeting has said he will be ‘horrified’ if the chief constable of West Midlands Police is still in post by the end of the day after he ‘misled MPs and the public’ over the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban.
Craig Guildford defied calls to step down and a Labour police and crime commissioner refused to remove him in the wake of a damning inquest into how the force came to ban Jewish football supporters from a game in Birmingham last year.
In extraordinary scenes in the Commons yesterday, Shabana Mahmood declared she had lost confidence in the Chief Constable after reading the ‘devastating’ report.
But the Home Secretary admitted she has no legal power to sack him, with the power resting with the local PCC alone, and Mr Guildford clearly reluctant to leave his post voluntarily.
Mr Streeting, the Health Secretary told Times Radio this morning: ‘Bluntly, I am absolutely shocked that he is still in post.
‘I genuinely thought that, having misled Parliament, that having misled the public, and having had one of his own local MPs, the Home Secretary, saying she had lost confidence in him, I honestly thought that anyone with integrity would at that point say ”I have to resign”.’
Health Secretary Wes Streeting declared himself ‘shocked’ that Craig Guildford was still in post
Mr Guildford apologised for misleading MPs to whom he had given evidence last month after it emerged that the force had even used an ‘AI hallucination’ to try to justify the ban
‘The fact he hasn’t, I really think, is a stain on his character that, if he doesn’t act quickly, he won’t be able to remove.
‘I hope he does the right thing. I will be horrified if he is still in post at the end of the day.’
As the backlash continues, ire has turned on PCC Simon Foster who faced demands he ‘do his job and fire Craig Guildford’.
The former solicitor, however, said he would defer his decision until he had given the findings of the 11-page report ‘full and proper consideration’ ahead of a public meeting with the Chief Constable at the end of the month.
Yesterday’s deadlock came after Sir Andy Cooke, Chief Inspector of Constabulary, blasted senior police for fabricating and exaggerating evidence to justify banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from travelling to their game against Aston Villa last November.
His report identified widespread failings by West Midlands Police in overstating the threat posed by Israeli fans, citing inaccurate information about links between fans and the Israeli Defence Forces, the targeting of Muslim communities, the burning of Palestinian flags and attacks on police officers.
As the decision then caused an almighty backlash, condemned by the Prime Minister as ‘wrong’, the force then mislead the public, the audit found.
And hours before the watchdog’s report was published, Mr Guildford apologised for misleading MPs to whom he had given evidence last month after it emerged that the force had even used an ‘AI hallucination’ to try to justify the ban, citing ‘evidence’ from a Maccabi match that never happened.
In a blistering attack, the Home Secretary told the Commons: ‘We have witnessed a failure of leadership that has harmed the reputation of and eroded public confidence in West Midlands police, and policing more broadly.
‘The ultimate responsibility for the force’s failure to discharge its duties on a matter of such national importance rests with the chief constable. It is for that reason that I must declare today that the chief constable of West Midlands police no longer has my confidence.’
There was a huge police presence outside the Europa League game in November
The last Home Secretary to make such a statement was David Blunkett in 2004, when he suspended then Humberside Chief David Westwood over failures to highlight the risk posed by Ian Huntley before he murdered ten-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, two years previously.
Ms Mahmood said of Sir Andy’s report: ‘It catalogues failures that did not just affect the travelling fans, but let down our entire Jewish community in the West Midlands and across the country.
‘Peaceful, harmonious communities rely on a police service that, above all else, pursues the truth.
‘We live in a world where misinformation flows freely and dangerously; in this case, the police added further misinformation to the public debate, when they could and should have provided the truth, which could have allayed fears.’
MPs from across the political spectrum queued up to call for Mr Guildford to go.
Shadow Home Secretary, Conservative Chris Philp condemned the ‘shameful episode,’ accusing the force of having ‘capitulated to the Islamist mob by banning the Maccabi fans’.
He said the police’s claims amounted to a ‘pack of lies from start to finish,’ adding: ‘The chief constable must be fired.’
Gurinder Singh Josan, Labour MP for Smethwick in the West Midlands, said he joined ‘the calls for the chief constable to resign his position forthwith, and others involved in this shameful episode.’
Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton demanded Mr Guildford stand down and one Birmingham Labour MP, Laurence Turner, said: ‘It is clear that the chief constable’s position is untenable’.
Craig Guildford’s letter to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, which is dated Monday
Antonia Bance, another Labour West Midlands MP representing Tipton, said: ‘It is clearly time for the chief constable to go.’
The force last night issued a statement admitting the ‘unintentional nature of our errors’, but failed to address its leader’s future.
A spokesman said: ‘We are extremely sorry for the impact these have had on individuals and their communities.
‘We are taking immediate action to address the matters raised in these preliminary findings.
‘We know that mistakes were made but reiterate the findings that none of this was done with an intent of deliberate distortion or discrimination.’
