West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Wednesday 26th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend. On his first point, I have already said, but I am happy to stress, that we do not intend that feedback on the intelligence received from the Amsterdam match and HMI’s assessment of it waits until the overall report, which is due in March; the Policing Minister should have some information before that. We think it is very important that we review the safety advisory groups overall and how they are handled. On his second point, the Government do not interfere in operational police matters, except in very particular circumstances, but frankly, on this occasion, we were prevented from intervening because Maccabi Tel Aviv decided not to take its ticket allocation.

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, I am very pleased to hear that the Policing Minister has written to the chief constable for an explanation. Like all noble Lords, I am sure, I look forward to hearing what he has to say. Andrew Gilbert, vice-president of the Board of Deputies, said:

“This decision has sowed distrust, particularly for Birmingham’s Jewish community, and undermined community cohesion”.


Does the Minister agree that for the concept of policing by consent to work, people must have the confidence to know that police use accurate information and are held to account when they do not?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

Unlike on the previous Question, I do agree with the noble Lord. I want particularly to emphasise that this is not just about who attends football matches, this is about community cohesion and tolerance in our society, and it is absolutely right that people should use reliable evidence and should be held to account if they do not.