The British Parliament has sharply criticised West Midlands Police (WMP) for banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a competitive football fixture, stating that the evidence behind the ban was inaccurate and misleading—all while rising violence against Jews poses a global problem.
In a report published on Sunday, February 22nd the British Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee criticised WMP for relying on “inaccurate and unverified” material when deciding to ban fans from the Maccabi-Aston Villa match in November 2025. According to the report, some of the information came from erroneous sources generated by artificial intelligence, creating a misleading picture of previous events.
The report added that the police did not give enough weight to counter-evidence, resulting in deficiencies in evidence collection not being addressed during the official review. The WMP chief previously acknowledged that a fictitious reference generated by Microsoft Copilot had been included in the material, which was later withdrawn following an independent judicial review.
The parliamentary committee noted that it found no evidence suggesting the police action was motivated by antisemitism—in contrast to allegations made at the time—but emphasised that authorities should involve local Jewish communities more in decision-making processes, particularly compared to consultations with other affected groups.
Significantly, MPs called the government’s response to the WMP ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans “clumsy,” “late,” and capable of “little more than inflam[ing] tensions.”
According to a WMP spokesperson,
We remain fully committed to learning from these events and have already made early efforts through a series of meetings with key local representatives to repair any damage caused by the loss of confidence that the public has in us.
However, the ‘key local representatives’ are part of the problem: the ban on the Israeli club’s fans was made by Birmingham’s council-led safety advisory group, which is widely seen as ‘captured’ by local ‘pro-Gaza’ elements.
