The Home Office is brokering extra police officers from forces outside the West Midlands so the ban on Israeli fans attending next month’s match at Aston Villa can be overturned, *The i Paper* understands.
Ministers were scrambling to find a solution to allow Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to attend the Europa League match on 6 November after the group responsible for issuing safety certificates in Birmingham advised that it would be unsafe for them to watch the game in the stands.
A Government spokesman said on Friday night: “No one should be stopped from watching a football game simply because of who they are.
“The Government is working with policing and other partners to do everything in our power to ensure this game can safely go ahead, with all fans present.
“We are exploring what additional resources and support are required so all fans can attend.”
*The i Paper* understands that ministers are expecting West Midlands Police to come forward early next week with what additional resources could allow them to police the game safely, with both sets of fans present.
A further meeting by the Safety Advisory Group – the group which recommened the ban – is expected to take place early next week.
The banning decision – which was supported by West Midlands Police – has caused a political storm, with the Conservatives saying it would be a “national disgrace” if the UK cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish football fans.
Sir Keir Starmer said it was the “wrong decision”, and on Friday his official spokesman said that the Prime Minister would do “everything in his power to give Jewish communities the security they deserve”.
The Downing Street spokesman added that “ministers across government” had been “urgently working to support the police and local authority to ensure all fans can enjoy the game safely.”
A senior political source in the West Midlands told *The i Paper* that a request would be made by West Midlands Police for additional officers from forces outside the region to ensure the game could be policed safely.
The source suggested that the force had made a narrow decision on the logistics of policing the event without fully considering the wider implications at a time when there is acute concern about antisemitism in public life after the Manchester synagogue attack.
Amazing how much effort this government will go to for a bunch of foreign football hololigans.
Nothing they can do to help anyone else obviously
The masters called him.
Authorisation intervention to help stoke up identity tensions? Damn.
I thought the police were doing the Israelis a favour. Aston is the last place they want to find themselves with their ‘death to Arabs’ chants.
Daddy bibi called him
Out own government are essentially terrorists.
Suggest Starmer himself puts on a disguise and attends the football match seeing as he insistent we should be able to police the thugs.
That seems fair enough, as long as Birmingham council tax payers are not picking up the bill. I assume AVFC will not have to pay extra.
When something happens, and people get hurt, the blood will be on his hands. They should have just banned all spectators.
Jewish football fans weren’t being banned, Maccabi Tel-Aviv ones were. Im sure they have plenty of fans who are not Jewish, just as there are undoubtedly many many Jewish Villa fans.
These are the same fans who caused the drama in Amsterdam and sing songs about blowing up Gazans. Everyone, and rightly so, calls for bans on fans singing songs about Hillsborough, the Munich air disaster etc. Will Maccabi Tel-Aviv fans be prevented from attending if they cause drama before the match? Will they be banned from subsequent matches if they do so after?
Edit: used the wrong Maccabi club
Didn’t Maccabi start Amsterdam riots like last year? Please allow them and act surprised later on
>Israel lobby funded half of Keir Starmer’s cabinet
>Exclusive: Labour’s top team has accepted hundreds of thousands of pounds from pro-Israel funders.
Maccabees and all their incarnations have been rioting since 167BC to now.
Israel say starmer do
You can see this one coming a mile off.
Ban is lifted, Haifa fans rampage Birmingham just like they did in Amsterdam. Villa fans retaliate and are then labelled anti-semitic.
Government and press – “well this couldn’t have been stopped”
Spineless
Surely God would ensure their safe passage?
This whole thing was orchestrated, Birmingham MP played fall guy, Keir played saviour. Orchestrated
If only Starmer had put a fraction of this level of effort and outrage into demanding that food supplies be let into Gaza for the past 2 years. But hey, some ultra-right wing Israeli football fans (yes, the same ones whose favourite song is about murdering Gazans) need standing up for waaaaaayyy more than thousands of starving children. Poor martyrs.
In case anyone was ever in doubt who his paymasters are, Keir Sheckel just showed us all.
Has this cunt done anything for his own people yet?
So.. West Mids Police have risk-assessed this match (as they have a statutory duty to do for any sporting/large events). In doing so have deemed it high risk AND possibly difficult to police with the numbers expected, history, location and resources available. So with that in mind, and to mitigate risks they won’t allow the away fans to travel.
Now that it’s become political – and hmmm I wonder why – the Government seem hellbent on undoing what WMP have clearly worked on. Now the Home Office have stepped in “offering extra support” (Guardian article). Extra support means using Officers from other Forces at GREAT expense to the tax payers.
All this for what? It’s such a weird issue for the Government to get involved with and I wonder that purpose this serves.
If it really kicks off outside the stadium and shit hits the fan, I guess we can firmly blame the Government? Should be interesting to hear the legal arguments…
Why not just hold the game behind closed doors?
Ajax fans were banned not just from the game but from a whole area in the South of France. Where was the uproar?
He will regret this when the Ultra’s go wild and then the press turns on him when the riots start.
Guaranteed that the Daily Mail will find an anti Semitic WhatsApp message from some group who no one has ever heard of and then says that Starmer knew but didn’t act.
It’s a gift to LBC & the Farage News Channel
Why are we assuming it will be the away fans that will be the problem and not some nutcase driving their car into them.
Does anyone really believe that the West Midlands police aren’t as utterly infiltrated as local politics in Birmingham?
When it was British people rioting against their kids being raped and murdered, Starmers couldn’t condemn it enough – when it’s Israeli fans rioting and attacking British citizens he wants to invite them in!
Like all liberals, you can see who he really works for and who he really hates.
This will end well.
What a clown this man is
Imagine if we had a prime minister that respected his own police force.
In 2020, Starmer said his “parents’ family” was Jewish. On many other occasions, he said his wife’s family was Jewish and his children were being raised Jewish.
Let the brummies have their fun
I genuinely have never seen a politician be as bad at politics as this one. Literally just perpetually standing around watching rakes being set up then stepping straight into them.
Starmer is such a loser. Who is he even for? Other than the Israeli government.
The shekels for the worlds politicians are really quite a marvel.
he’s literally just asking for riots to happen
To give Starmer the tiniest benefit of the doubt here, my gut says that this isn’t “Starmer bows to pressure from Israel” and more “Starmer bows to implied pressure from the US”
Trump has gone all in on Israel in the recent war and is now parading around the world boasting about how good a job he did with it. If the UK has any kind of “anti-israel” stance, regardless of how much sense it makes or how vague a connection to “israel” the entity, Trump would get mad and who the hell knows what happens then. 3,000% tariff on the English language or some other such nonsense.
So that would be my bet. Starmer’s pre-emptively getting ahead of any US punitive response. At least I hope it’s that because any possible alternative is so painfully stupid I think I’d start crying.
You can tell where the governments priorities are at when they are bending over backwards to sort out what is effectively a non issue. When the poverty in this country is through the roof.
39 comments
The Home Office is brokering extra police officers from forces outside the West Midlands so the ban on Israeli fans attending next month’s match at Aston Villa can be overturned, *The i Paper* understands.
Ministers were scrambling to find a solution to allow Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to attend the Europa League match on 6 November after the group responsible for issuing safety certificates in Birmingham advised that it would be unsafe for them to watch the game in the stands.
A Government spokesman said on Friday night: “No one should be stopped from watching a football game simply because of who they are.
“The Government is working with policing and other partners to do everything in our power to ensure this game can safely go ahead, with all fans present.
“We are exploring what additional resources and support are required so all fans can attend.”
*The i Paper* understands that ministers are expecting West Midlands Police to come forward early next week with what additional resources could allow them to police the game safely, with both sets of fans present.
A further meeting by the Safety Advisory Group – the group which recommened the ban – is expected to take place early next week.
The banning decision – which was supported by West Midlands Police – has caused a political storm, with the Conservatives saying it would be a “national disgrace” if the UK cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish football fans.
Sir Keir Starmer said it was the “wrong decision”, and on Friday his official spokesman said that the Prime Minister would do “everything in his power to give Jewish communities the security they deserve”.
The Downing Street spokesman added that “ministers across government” had been “urgently working to support the police and local authority to ensure all fans can enjoy the game safely.”
A senior political source in the West Midlands told *The i Paper* that a request would be made by West Midlands Police for additional officers from forces outside the region to ensure the game could be policed safely.
The source suggested that the force had made a narrow decision on the logistics of policing the event without fully considering the wider implications at a time when there is acute concern about antisemitism in public life after the Manchester synagogue attack.
Amazing how much effort this government will go to for a bunch of foreign football hololigans.
Nothing they can do to help anyone else obviously
The masters called him.
Authorisation intervention to help stoke up identity tensions? Damn.
I thought the police were doing the Israelis a favour. Aston is the last place they want to find themselves with their ‘death to Arabs’ chants.
Daddy bibi called him
Out own government are essentially terrorists.
Suggest Starmer himself puts on a disguise and attends the football match seeing as he insistent we should be able to police the thugs.
That seems fair enough, as long as Birmingham council tax payers are not picking up the bill. I assume AVFC will not have to pay extra.
When something happens, and people get hurt, the blood will be on his hands. They should have just banned all spectators.
Jewish football fans weren’t being banned, Maccabi Tel-Aviv ones were. Im sure they have plenty of fans who are not Jewish, just as there are undoubtedly many many Jewish Villa fans.
These are the same fans who caused the drama in Amsterdam and sing songs about blowing up Gazans. Everyone, and rightly so, calls for bans on fans singing songs about Hillsborough, the Munich air disaster etc. Will Maccabi Tel-Aviv fans be prevented from attending if they cause drama before the match? Will they be banned from subsequent matches if they do so after?
Edit: used the wrong Maccabi club
Didn’t Maccabi start Amsterdam riots like last year? Please allow them and act surprised later on
>Israel lobby funded half of Keir Starmer’s cabinet
>Exclusive: Labour’s top team has accepted hundreds of thousands of pounds from pro-Israel funders.
https://www.declassifieduk.org/israel-lobby-funded-half-of-keir-starmers-cabinet/
This will end brilliantly I’m certain of it.
I foresee no way this could end badly
Maccabees and all their incarnations have been rioting since 167BC to now.
Israel say starmer do
You can see this one coming a mile off.
Ban is lifted, Haifa fans rampage Birmingham just like they did in Amsterdam. Villa fans retaliate and are then labelled anti-semitic.
Government and press – “well this couldn’t have been stopped”
Spineless
Surely God would ensure their safe passage?
This whole thing was orchestrated, Birmingham MP played fall guy, Keir played saviour. Orchestrated
If only Starmer had put a fraction of this level of effort and outrage into demanding that food supplies be let into Gaza for the past 2 years. But hey, some ultra-right wing Israeli football fans (yes, the same ones whose favourite song is about murdering Gazans) need standing up for waaaaaayyy more than thousands of starving children. Poor martyrs.
In case anyone was ever in doubt who his paymasters are, Keir Sheckel just showed us all.
Has this cunt done anything for his own people yet?
So.. West Mids Police have risk-assessed this match (as they have a statutory duty to do for any sporting/large events). In doing so have deemed it high risk AND possibly difficult to police with the numbers expected, history, location and resources available. So with that in mind, and to mitigate risks they won’t allow the away fans to travel.
Now that it’s become political – and hmmm I wonder why – the Government seem hellbent on undoing what WMP have clearly worked on. Now the Home Office have stepped in “offering extra support” (Guardian article). Extra support means using Officers from other Forces at GREAT expense to the tax payers.
All this for what? It’s such a weird issue for the Government to get involved with and I wonder that purpose this serves.
If it really kicks off outside the stadium and shit hits the fan, I guess we can firmly blame the Government? Should be interesting to hear the legal arguments…
Why not just hold the game behind closed doors?
Ajax fans were banned not just from the game but from a whole area in the South of France. Where was the uproar?
He will regret this when the Ultra’s go wild and then the press turns on him when the riots start.
Guaranteed that the Daily Mail will find an anti Semitic WhatsApp message from some group who no one has ever heard of and then says that Starmer knew but didn’t act.
It’s a gift to LBC & the Farage News Channel
Why are we assuming it will be the away fans that will be the problem and not some nutcase driving their car into them.
Does anyone really believe that the West Midlands police aren’t as utterly infiltrated as local politics in Birmingham?
When it was British people rioting against their kids being raped and murdered, Starmers couldn’t condemn it enough – when it’s Israeli fans rioting and attacking British citizens he wants to invite them in!
Like all liberals, you can see who he really works for and who he really hates.
This will end well.
What a clown this man is
Imagine if we had a prime minister that respected his own police force.
In 2020, Starmer said his “parents’ family” was Jewish. On many other occasions, he said his wife’s family was Jewish and his children were being raised Jewish.
Let the brummies have their fun
I genuinely have never seen a politician be as bad at politics as this one. Literally just perpetually standing around watching rakes being set up then stepping straight into them.
Starmer is such a loser. Who is he even for? Other than the Israeli government.
The shekels for the worlds politicians are really quite a marvel.
he’s literally just asking for riots to happen
To give Starmer the tiniest benefit of the doubt here, my gut says that this isn’t “Starmer bows to pressure from Israel” and more “Starmer bows to implied pressure from the US”
Trump has gone all in on Israel in the recent war and is now parading around the world boasting about how good a job he did with it. If the UK has any kind of “anti-israel” stance, regardless of how much sense it makes or how vague a connection to “israel” the entity, Trump would get mad and who the hell knows what happens then. 3,000% tariff on the English language or some other such nonsense.
So that would be my bet. Starmer’s pre-emptively getting ahead of any US punitive response. At least I hope it’s that because any possible alternative is so painfully stupid I think I’d start crying.
You can tell where the governments priorities are at when they are bending over backwards to sort out what is effectively a non issue. When the poverty in this country is through the roof.
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