The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Craig Guildford, is fighting to keep his job following a devastating report from the police inspectorate. The report laid bare serious intelligence failures within the force regarding its decision to advocate for a ban on Israeli football fans attending a match in Birmingham.
Damning Findings from the Inspectorate
The report by Sir Andy Cooke, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, concluded that West Midlands Police became convinced a ban on fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv was necessary for a match in November 2025. It then sought evidence to justify this pre-determined stance, falling victim to "confirmation bias" and repeatedly getting the facts wrong.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found the force focused heavily on concerns within Muslim communities, angered by Israeli actions in Gaza, while failing to properly consult local Jewish groups. The report stated the force did not appreciate that a ban would raise serious suspicions of caving in to antisemitism.
Sir Andy Cooke said: "It focused on reducing the risk of short-term disorder and long-term damage to local community relations due to the presence of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. It lacked the necessary foresight to recognise the long-term, global consequences."
Critical Errors in Handling Dutch Intelligence
Central to the force's flawed case was its misinterpretation of information from Dutch police about disorder when Maccabi played in Amsterdam in 2024. The HMIC report identified a series of critical errors in how this intelligence was presented.
West Midlands Police wrongly told Birmingham's safety advisory group that Dutch police required 5,000 officers for the Amsterdam match, when their own records showed the correct figure was 2,000. Officers also incorrectly claimed over 200 Israeli fans were linked to the Israeli Defense Forces and that 500-600 fans had intentionally targeted Muslim communities.
In reality, HMIC states there were clashes but Israeli fans "targeted individuals rather than residential communities." Furthermore, an incident portrayed as Maccabi fans throwing Muslims into water was actually an Israeli fan being thrown in, a fact British police knew from official Dutch reports.
Cooke concluded that these misleading statements gave the safety group "little or no option" but to approve the ban.
What Happens Next for Chief Constable Guildford?
Despite Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood stating she has lost confidence in Guildford, the power to dismiss him rests with Simon Foster, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands. Foster has announced a public session to question Guildford on 27 January.
If Foster moves to dismiss the Chief Constable, he must follow a strict legal process, consulting Sir Andy Cooke. Guildford's defence may point to improvements under his leadership since 2022, including raising the crime clear-up rate from 3% to 15% and vastly improving emergency call response times.
However, the inspectorate's report places responsibility firmly at the top, stating the failings are "symptomatic of a force not applying the necessary strategic oversight and not paying enough attention to important matters of detail, including at the most senior levels." The report attributed the errors to "carelessness rather than any deliberate distortion."
Adding to Guildford's troubles, he performed poorly in two hearings before the Home Affairs Committee this month. The committee is expected to release its own report, which may be even more critical than the HMIC's. In a recent letter to MPs, Guildford apologised for an intelligence report error that included a reference to a Maccabi match against West Ham that never happened—an error an officer described as an "AI hallucination."
With a shortage of capable chief constables nationwide, Foster's final decision will weigh the gravity of these specific failures against Guildford's overall record and the challenge of finding a replacement.
