Home Secretary has 'lost confidence' in police chief

THE Home Secretary says she has lost confidence in the chief of West Midlands Police after a “damning” review into the force’s decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a match against Aston Villa.

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Shabana Mahmood told MPs that findings by the policing watchdog into the force's intelligence gathering show “confirmation bias” over the decision to bar the Israeli football team from attending Villa Park in November.

Addressing the Commons yesterday, Ms Mahmood said there had been “a failure of leadership” and that the report by chief inspector of constabulary Sir Andy Cooke was “damning”.

“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.”

Sir Andy's report found that “rather than follow the evidence, the force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans”.