|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) has joined calls for West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guilford to resign over his handling of the ban of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending an away soccer match against Aston Villa in Birmingham last month.
The Sunday Times reported this week that police “produced false evidence to retrospectively justify” the ban — implemented for purported public safety concerns — after its rationale was questioned.
In a letter to UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, which can be read in full HERE, CAM Director of European Affairs Shannon Seban wrote:
I am writing in my capacity as Director of European Affairs at the Combat Antisemitism Movement to express my serious concern regarding the conduct of Chief Constable Craig Guildford in relation to the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending the Europa League match at Villa Park in Birmingham last November.
This decision was publicly justified on the basis of alleged intelligence and public order concerns. However, subsequent disclosures, parliamentary scrutiny, and reporting by several British media outlets have shown that the ban was not grounded in concrete intelligence, but rather in shifting and inconsistent justifications.
Crucially, West Midlands Police were aware prior to the match that local extremist elements were considering violent action against Israeli supporters. Instead of addressing this threat directly, the police chose to exclude the targeted group, while concealing the nature of the threat and later constructing an alternative narrative to justify a decision already taken.
Equally troubling is the claim that the Jewish community supported the ban. This has since been formally denied by the Chair of the Birmingham and West Midlands Jewish Community, raising serious concerns about transparency and the misuse of community representation.
Taken together, these facts point to a failure of impartial, evidence-based policing. The message sent is deeply alarming: when credible antisemitic threats emerged, the response was not to confront those threatening violence, but to restrict Jewish presence.
For these reasons, we believe Chief Constable Craig Guildford has failed to uphold the standards of neutrality and responsibility required of his office. We therefore respectfully call for his resignation. Should he refuse, decisive action by the Home Secretary is warranted.
A similar demand for Guildford’s resignation was issued by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish Leadership Council on Tuesday.
We are calling for .@WMPolice’s Chief Constable to go. pic.twitter.com/oc2jxtBnf2
— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) January 6, 2026
Seban also signed a joint letter with Birmingham City Councillor Alex Yip — addressed to Birmingham City Councillor and Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community Safety and Equalities Jamie Tennant — requesting an urgent meeting of the city’s Counter Terrorism Strategic (CONTEST) Board to discuss the issue.
