Home Secretary no longer trusts West Midlands Police Chief after a review into why Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from a match at Aston Villa
She described the leadership as a failure
The Home Secretary has said she has lost confidence in the head of West Midlands Police following a "damning" review into the force's decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a match against Aston Villa.
Shabana Mahmood told MPs that findings by the policing watchdog into the force's controversial intelligence gathering show "confirmation bias" over the decision to bar the Israeli football team from attending Villa Park in November.
Addressing the Commons on Wednesday, Ms Mahmood said there had been "a failure of leadership" and that the report by chief inspector of constabulary Sir Andy Cooke had been "damning".
She 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."
She said Cooke's report found that "rather than follow the evidence, the force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans".
"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 said.
"Misleading communications also extend to the words of the chief constable himself at his appearance in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee, when he claimed that AI tools were not used to prepare intelligence reports, a claim since refuted by one of his own officers, who blames incorrect evidence on an 'AI hallucination'.
"What is clear from this report is that on an issue of huge significance to the Jewish community in this country and to us all, we have witnessed a failure of leadership that has harmed the reputation and eroded public schools."
She added: "The ultimate responsibility for the force's failure to discharge its duties on a matter of such national importance rests with the chief constable, and it is for that reason that I must declare today that the chief constable of West Midlands Police no longer has my confidence."
Ms Mahmood also expressed frustration that she was not able to sack chief constable Craig Guildford herself, a power she said was removed from the home secretary's remit during the coalition government's reforms which introduced police and crime commissioners in 2011.
She vowed to introduce new statutory powers allowing a home secretary to force the resignation of chief constables on the grounds of their performance.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Guildford apologised to MPs for giving them an error in evidence, after he appeared twice before the Home Affairs Committee over the controversy.