By James Sorene

When police are unreliable witnesses, it shatters trust in the very institution we rely on to keep us safe.

In a crime thriller, the street-savvy detective finds the culprit. In the sordid drama of the Birmingham police decision to ban Israeli fans, it is the Home Affairs Select Committee and Nick Timothy MP who are asking the simple questions and still looking for answers.

The 1 December evidence session with Chief Constable Craig Guildford and his Assistant Chief Constable Mike O Hara was so full of holes, evasions and opaque management speak that they have been invited back for more questioning and to provide more documents.

On 16 October West Midlands Police said they were unable to police a football match unless 2400 away fans from Israel, most of them Jewish, were banned. The decision from the Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group, supported by the Police, was based on a police intelligence report.

Something about this story smelled bad from the start. West Midlands Police has more than 8,000 officers. If they needed reinforcements to secure the football match they could have asked for help. The Chief Constable is a specialist public order commander. What was he really afraid of?

As soon as the Aston Villa Maccabi Tel Aviv........

© LBC