The actions of West Midlands Police in the case of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football ban are perhaps the most dramatic demonstration in modern times of what happens when a police force no longer operates ‘without fear or favour’. 

The information now in the public domain shows there was never sufficient justification to ban the Israeli fans. Yet West Midlands Police have consistently claimed a ban was necessary following consultation with the ‘community’. Yet who exactly are the ‘community’ here? Indeed, who defines what the ‘community’ is? The ‘community’ apparently included three organisations who had previously hosted Islamic preachers who promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories or called for the death of Jews. 

It would, rightly, be considered unconscionable for the police to consult Tommy Robinson if it were the sensibilities of the white British – or some other – population at risk. Yet somehow those who hold extreme Islamist views against Jews were considered appropriate tribunes of local ‘community’ sentiment in this case. 

Ultimately what was the bargain West Midlands Police were willing to strike to appease the sectional ‘community leaders’ and extremists involved? Was it as simple as: ban the Jews and Israelis and there will be limited public disorder on the streets? 

This is not the first time West Midlands Police have subjugated their operational decision making to the ‘community’. During the 2024 riots, a senior officer, in an interview with Sky News, defended the force’s choice not to deal with a mob armed with weapons after consulting with ‘community leaders’, because the community would apparently police ‘within themselves’. It has never........

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