The Consequences of Craig Guildford’s Deceit

It cannot have escaped anyone’s attention that West Midlands Police (WMP) in the United Kingdom is in a spot of hot water right now. The organisation, specifically its senior leadership team, was caught out fabricating intelligence, identifying fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv as being so violent as to warrant their banning from a Europa League game against Birmingham’s Aston Villa in November 2025. 

To compound the issue, the chief constable, Craig Guildford, lied about it to a parliamentary select committee in a bid to hide the ugly truth that the force was, in reality, terrified of gangs of armed Islamists roaming the streets on the day of the game looking to attack Jewish supporters. And, yet further, the only person who could have dismissed the chief constable was WMP Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster, who has himself been accused of offering unspecified grants to a mosque with a documented history of hosting speakers accused of antisemitism and misogyny. In 2022, a senior figure from the same mosque sat on the panel that appointed Craig Guildford as WMP chief constable. It’s fair to say that West Midlands law enforcement and Birmingham’s self-appointed Muslim ‘community leaders’ enjoy a very cosy relationship indeed.

Now, after what he describes as a “political and media frenzy” (i.e., entirely legitimate scrutiny of his dishonesty and victim-blaming), Chief Constable Guildford has retired. Not resigned, not been sacked, but allowed to retire by PCC Foster. Meaning that he will receive a substantial lump sum and pension for his duplicity and will almost certainly not have to face any further legal scrutiny. This is in marked contrast to other, more junior officers, who, for instance, have been acquitted of murder after shooting a violent gangster using his vehicle as a weapon, and yet who still face misconduct charges. Or the officer who was dismissed for gross misconduct after not showing enough respect to a violent, knife-wielding youth. 

West Midlands is a police force which has a history of grovelling to Birmingham’s Muslim demographic, which, according to the 2021 census, numbers one-third of the population of that city. Guildford has previously recorded Ramadan messages for Muslims but has never done anything similar for Birmingham’s Christians. This is at a time when the WMP Federation (the effective ‘union’ of the police) has reported record levels of low morale among the rank and file officers of the force. Guildford and Foster would have done better to tackle the workload, stress, and public trust issues rather than kowtowing to a mob which happens to shout the loudest. 

But, aside from all this, there are the consequences of WMP’s actions to consider. The force’s senior officers completely failed to appreciate the potential impact of their decision as it rippled out from Birmingham to the wider world. They cared more about the nebulous concept of ‘community cohesion’ than doing their job properly—that is, to protect law-abiding people from those intent on causing them physical harm no matter how intimidating or large the horde.

Islamists will now know (if they didn’t already) that the louder they shout and the more they threaten, the greater the chances of their fundamentalist desires being fulfilled. 

This has been seen across Europe over recent years. In 2022, Islamists successfully campaigned to have a ‘blasphemous’ film withdrawn from British cinemas; in 2025, a film screening of Barbie in Paris was cancelled by Muslim youths objecting to the film’s apparent promotion of homosexuality; a teacher in England remains in hiding three years after showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to Muslim pupils; and, of course, we can never forget the case of Samuel Paty, the teacher murdered and decapitated in a French street in 2020 after, again, being accused (mistakenly) of showing cartoons of Muhammad. 

Indeed, the current United Kingdom government is planning to introduce an official definition of ‘anti-Muslim hostility,’ meaning that even legitimate criticism of some theological edicts and attitudes, for example relating to the treatment of women and members of other religions, could potentially be criminalised. Singling out one faith group for such special protection merely confirms the view that Islamists are being rewarded for their militancy.  

WMP’s choices in relation to this football fixture demonstrate its lack of awareness and appreciation of the broader issues. In particular, a complete lack of recognition of the national and international repercussions for policing. While WMP sought to mitigate the immediate risk of disorder by banning Israeli fans and prioritising the importance of maintaining positive relations with local Muslims, it did not consider the wider implications of its chosen tactical approach. The focus remained firmly on the short-term priority of appeasing extremists. 

Law enforcement has a vital role in halting the rise of sectarian and politically motivated violence across our continent. But by publicly displaying their dread of an Islamist mob, West Midlands Police have set a precedent where decisions aimed at reducing conflict have instead confirmed official bias, making all communities (not just the Jewish community) less willing to co-operate with the police in future. 

At a time when many in Europe feel that their continent is succumbing to a slow, inexorable process of Islamisation, this abject failure of West Midlands Police could not have come at a worse time.