Overview
- His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary issued a preliminary review finding West Midlands Police displayed confirmation bias and included eight inaccuracies in advice that led to banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the November match at Villa Park.
- Errors highlighted by the watchdog included exaggerated accounts of disorder in Amsterdam and a fictitious West Ham fixture generated by Microsoft Copilot, described as an AI hallucination.
- Chief Constable Craig Guildford apologized to MPs for providing erroneous evidence and corrected his earlier denial of AI use in the intelligence process.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told Parliament she no longer has confidence in Guildford and said she will seek new powers to allow future Home Secretaries to dismiss underperforming police chiefs.
- Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster declined to dismiss the chief immediately, citing due process as he awaits a Home Affairs Committee report and a public accountability session on January 27, while the force apologized and pledged immediate corrective action; the watchdog found no evidence of antisemitism but criticized limited engagement with Jewish community leaders.