Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has declared she's lost confidence in West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford over his handling of intelligence on a football match ban that targeted Israeli fans. This is the first time a home secretary has expressed such concerns about a serving police leader, and it follows a critical report by Sir Andy Cooke, which found several errors in how the force gathered intelligence.
The report, released last year, found that the West Midlands police had made misleading statements through "confirmation bias" and "carelessness," but not due to antisemitism or political pressure. The force had relied on inflated claims about Israeli fans being perpetrators of violence, with a Dutch police briefing that was later disputed by investigators.
Guildford has refused to quit despite Mahmood's demands for his resignation. The Home Secretary stated she had lost confidence in him after the report, saying "the chief constable should have ensured more professional and thorough work" was done on the matter.
Guildford has since apologised for errors made during intelligence gathering, including a false report about an Israeli football match against West Ham that never took place.
The incident sparked controversy with senior policing sources describing Guildford as a "dead man walking," while others have defended him, with some even calling his resignation a "witch hunt."
Guildford will wait to see if the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, decides to trigger the process for dismissal. The force leadership accepts that mistakes were made but insists its decisions kept the public safe.
In response to the scandal, the government's independent adviser on antisemitism has called for Guildford's resignation, while Labour officials have also demanded his removal.
The report, released last year, found that the West Midlands police had made misleading statements through "confirmation bias" and "carelessness," but not due to antisemitism or political pressure. The force had relied on inflated claims about Israeli fans being perpetrators of violence, with a Dutch police briefing that was later disputed by investigators.
Guildford has refused to quit despite Mahmood's demands for his resignation. The Home Secretary stated she had lost confidence in him after the report, saying "the chief constable should have ensured more professional and thorough work" was done on the matter.
Guildford has since apologised for errors made during intelligence gathering, including a false report about an Israeli football match against West Ham that never took place.
The incident sparked controversy with senior policing sources describing Guildford as a "dead man walking," while others have defended him, with some even calling his resignation a "witch hunt."
Guildford will wait to see if the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, decides to trigger the process for dismissal. The force leadership accepts that mistakes were made but insists its decisions kept the public safe.
In response to the scandal, the government's independent adviser on antisemitism has called for Guildford's resignation, while Labour officials have also demanded his removal.
I'm not surprised to hear that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has lost confidence in West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford over this whole football match ban fiasco 
. The fact that they made misleading statements and relied on inflated claims about Israeli fans being perpetrators of violence is just plain wrong 
. It's like, come on, can't we all just get along and enjoy a footy match without needing to make up stories? 
. It seems like there are some conflicting opinions on this one, with some folks calling it a "witch hunt" while others see it as a legitimate call for accountability 
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. But if he refuses to resign despite the Home Secretary's demands, then I think the police leadership has some explaining to do 
Omg what's going on with this police chief?! 
I mean I'm all about keeping it safe and stuff, but come on! 
He made some pretty serious mistakes that could've hurt people's reputations. 
And now the Home Secretary is saying she's lost faith in him? 
It's like he messed up big time. 
He apologized for the errors, but is that enough? 
I don't think so! 
. First off, let's get one thing straight - we shouldn't be surprised that some mistakes were made. Who hasn't messed up at some point in their job? But what really gets my goat is how everyone's jumping to Guildford's defence without hearing him out 
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. There's still room for growth and learning from these kinds of mistakes.
. I just hope we can get some clarity on what actually happened and how things are going to move forward.
he apologized but thats not enough, right? the fact that senior policing sources are saying hes a dead man walking is wild 
lets keep an eye on this situation and hope its resolved soon 
The fact that he's apologizing now doesn't really help, does it?
- are they trying to cover their own backsides or something? And Labour officials calling for Guildford's removal seems a bit unfair too 
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my niece made them with me and we had a blast in the kitchen! anyway back to the west midlands police thing... i don't think it's fair to call guildford a "dead man walking" just cuz he made some mistakes, u know? everyone screws up sometimes... my friend's brother works for the police and he said they're super stressed out right now cuz of all this drama 
... it just doesn't add up. And yeah, the fact that the West Midlands police made misleading statements is a big deal 
. But at the same time, I don't think it's fair to call Craig Guildford a "dead man walking" or say he's being unfairly targeted 
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. I mean, I know everyone wants to keep the public safe and all that, but you gotta get it right, you know? This whole thing is just making me think of all those old news stories from back in 2010 when there were some issues with the Olympics...anyway, let's just hope Guildford gets his act together 
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. and the Home Secretary is all like "oh no, I've lost confidence" but really she's just trying to avoid getting her hands dirty with the messy fallout 
. guess we'll just have to wait and see if Simon Foster is going to come in and save his bacon