Remember me
The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police was clinging on to his job last night in an unprecedented standoff with the Home Secretary.
Craig Guildford defied calls to step down and a Labour police and crime commissioner refused to remove him in the wake of a damning inquest into how the force came to ban Jewish football supporters from a game in Birmingham last year.
In extraordinary scenes in the Commons, Shabana Mahmood declared she had lost confidence in the Chief Constable after reading the 'devastating' report.
It is the first time in more than 20 years that a Home Secretary has put such pressure on the head of a police force to go, a move which received widespread cross-party support yesterday.
But the Home Secretary admitted she has no legal power to sack him, despite accusing Mr Guildford of damaging trust and confidence in police nationwide.
That power rests with the local PCC alone, though, in a sign of her frustration, Ms Mahmood said she would be reclaiming the responsibility in the future.
As the hours ticked by following her explosive statement, it became clear Mr Guildford would not be leaving his post voluntarily. He was said to be insisting to colleagues that he would 'see out the week' in the hope that it 'would all blow over'.
'He wants due process, he won't accept it,' a source said.
West Midlands Police chief constable Craig Guildford at Home Affairs Committee on January 6
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs the findings of the report into West Midlands Police were 'damning'. It is the first time in more than 20 years that a Home Secretary has put such pressure on the head of a police force to go
Ire then turned on PCC Simon Foster who faced demands he 'do his job and fire Craig Guildford'.
The former solicitor, however, said he would defer his decision until he had given the findings of the 11-page report 'full and proper consideration' ahead of a public meeting with the Chief Constable at the end of the month.
Yesterday's deadlock came after Sir Andy Cooke, Chief Inspector of Constabulary, blasted senior police for fabricating and exaggerating evidence to justify banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from travelling to their game against Aston Villa last November.
His report identified widespread failings by West Midlands Police in overstating the threat posed by Israeli fans, citing inaccurate information about links between fans and the Israeli Defence Forces, the targeting of Muslim communities, the burning of Palestinian flags and attacks on police officers.
As the decision then caused an almighty backlash, condemned by the Prime Minister as 'wrong', the force then mislead the public, the audit found.
And hours before the watchdog's report was published, Mr Guildford apologised for misleading MPs to whom he had given evidence last month after it emerged that the force had even used an 'AI hallucination' to try to justify the ban, citing 'evidence' from a Maccabi match that never happened.
In a blistering attack, the Home Secretary told the Commons: 'We have witnessed a failure of leadership that has harmed the reputation of and eroded public confidence in West Midlands police, and policing more broadly.
'The ultimate responsibility for the force's failure to discharge its duties on a matter of such national importance rests with the chief constable. It is for that reason that I must declare today that the chief constable of West Midlands police no longer has my confidence.'
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside the stadium as Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were barred from travelling to the game at Villa Park in November by the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which cited safety concerns based on advice from the police force
Read More How can he cling on? West Midlands Police chief 'refuses to quit' over Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban
The last Home Secretary to make such a statement was David Blunkett in 2004, when he suspended then Humberside Chief David Westwood over failures to highlight the risk posed by Ian Huntley before he murdered ten-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, two years previously.
Ms Mahmood said of Sir Andy's report: 'It catalogues failures that did not just affect the travelling fans, but let down our entire Jewish community in the West Midlands and across the country.
'Peaceful, harmonious communities rely on a police service that, above all else, pursues the truth.
'We live in a world where misinformation flows freely and dangerously; in this case, the police added further misinformation to the public debate, when they could and should have provided the truth, which could have allayed fears.'
MPs from across the political spectrum queued up to call for Mr Guildford to go.
Shadow Home Secretary, Conservative Chris Philp condemned the 'shameful episode,' accusing the force of having 'capitulated to the Islamist mob by banning the Maccabi fans'.
He said the police's claims amounted to a 'pack of lies from start to finish,' adding: 'The chief constable must be fired.'
Gurinder Singh Josan, Labour MP for Smethwick in the West Midlands, said he joined 'the calls for the chief constable to resign his position forthwith, and others involved in this shameful episode.'
Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton demanded Mr Guildford stand down and one Birmingham Labour MP, Laurence Turner, said: 'It is clear that the chief constable's position is untenable'.
Antonia Bance, another Labour West Midlands MP representing Tipton, said: 'It is clearly time for the chief constable to go.'
The force last night issued a statement admitting the 'unintentional nature of our errors', but failed to address its leader's future.
A spokesman said: 'We are extremely sorry for the impact these have had on individuals and their communities.
'We are taking immediate action to address the matters raised in these preliminary findings.
'We know that mistakes were made but reiterate the findings that none of this was done with an intent of deliberate distortion or discrimination.'