‘There is no defending this... our reputation battered once again’

Former West Midlands Mayor SIR ANDY STREET says city leaders should hang their head in shame over the Aston Villa - Maccabi Tel Aviv football match ticket fiasco. Here he tells Birmingham Mail readers why.

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‘IN [the] city where Jewish football fans are banned..’ - that’s how the Sunday Times described us in a recent headline.

Our Home. Our City. Birmingham. The place that is supposed to be the melting pot of the UK - the best of tolerance, integration and diversity - now making global headlines for telling Jewish people they cannot be kept safe.

The worst part? The headline looks to be justified. We have denied people their right to travel simply because of their religious beliefs and nationality.

As a moderate man I am always careful not to exaggerate, but it is right to describe this outcome as a disgrace as it's against everything our city stands for.

I am also left with one big question - how have our leaders allowed this to happen?

This city has had its troubles with community cohesion - but a phenomenal job has always been done to ensure hate and division never won, and the soul of Birmingham was never lost. Until now.

As I hope readers will recognise, as a proud citizen and former mayor I have always fervently defended this city and the wider West Midlands. I have championed the strength of our integration, our long record of tolerance, and our proud diversity in the face of political point-scoring and baseless attacks.