West Midlands PCC ignores calls to sack chief constable now, and signifies he’ll take time to attain determination
Simon Foster, the Labour West Midlands police and crime commissioner (PCC), has indicated that he’ll not sack Craig Guildford, the chief constable, on the foundation of the report out at present.
In a statement, Foster says that he understands, and shares, the considerations expressed by many individuals about the pressure’s dealing with of the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban. However he additionally alerts that it could be fallacious to rush to judgment.
He says he did not get the Andy Cooke report prematurely, and that he desires to give it “cautious and detailed consideration”.
He additionally factors out that Cooke is due to publish an additional, closing report on West Midlands police, and that in his letter (or preliminary report) revealed at present he says his views could “develop or change” as extra information is available in.
He says the Commons dwelling affairs committee has not revealed its report but.
He goes on:
It is my statutory obligation to maintain the chief constable to account for the totality of policing in the West Midlands.
So as to give all these points full and correct consideration, I can be taking this matter to a gathering of my accountability and governance board, held in public, on Tuesday 27 January 2026 and asking questions of the chief constable.
In consideration of those issues, it is very important that every one concerned act in accordance with due course of and the legislation always.
The reference to “totality of policing” could also be significance. As Vikram Dodd has reported, in some respects Guildford, who grew to become chief constable in 2022, has a very good file. The pressure is now fixing 15% of crime, up from 3% when he took over. “Violent crime is down, and instances to reply emergency calls, which had been amongst the worst in the nation, are now amongst the greatest,” Dodd says.
Key occasions
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West Midlands PCC ignores calls to sack chief constable now, and indicates he will take time to reach decision
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Labour West Midlands mayor Richard Parker joins calls for chief constable to resign
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France announces ban on 10 British anti-migrant activists
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Labour leader of Birmingham city council says West Midlands chief constable should resign
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Mahmood says individual West Midlands police officers not antisemitic, but some people lobbying them may have been
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Independent MP Ayoub Khan, who seat covers Villa Park, says West Midlands chief constable victim of ‘witch-hunt’
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Mahmood says Chris Philp wrong to claim she has power to sack West Midlands chief constable herself
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Mahmood says she will legislate to ensure home secretary regains power to sack chief constables
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Mahmood says she expects West Midlands PCC to follow ‘due process’ as he decides whether to sack chief constable
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Mahmood tells MPs she now longer has confidence in West Midlands chief constable after ‘damning’ report
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Plaid Cymru have surged ahead of Reform UK in voting intention for Senedd, poll suggests
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No 10 says new Hillsborough law amendments being tabled in bid to assure relatives intelligence services not exempt
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PMQs – snap verdict
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Starmer says Reform UK’s plan to get rid of Online Safety Act ‘absolute disgrace’
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Starmer says X is now reportedly complying with UK law in relation to Grok image abuse, which he says is welcome if true
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Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
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Reform UK announces more than 20 councillors defecting to it, including former BBC journalist Clarence Mitchell
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Proposed ban on supply of nudification apps unlikely to cover multi-purpose tools like Grok, Liz Kendall suggests
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Miliband says wind power auction results show clean energy critics have been ‘proved wrong’
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What commentators are saying about digital ID U-turn
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Farage says digital ID U-turn ‘victory for individual liberty’
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Zack Polanski welcomes digitial ID U-turn, saying plans to reduce jury trials ‘need to go next’
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Transport Alexander Heidi Alexander rejects suggestions government has done ‘massive U-turn’ over digital ID
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West Midlands chief constable apologises to Commons committee for error in evidence over Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban
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Reeves plays down significance of digital ID card U-turn, saying workers will still have to verify ID digitally
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Blunkett says he is ‘disappointed’ by digital ID U-turn, and blames Starmer for lack of ‘strategic plan’ to defend policy
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Tories and Lib Dems criticise Starmer’s ‘spinelessness’ after U-turn on digital ID
Labour West Midlands mayor Richard Parker joins requires chief constable to resign
Richard Parker, the Labour West Midlands mayor, has additionally known as for Craig Guildford to resign as chief constable, the BBC reports. Parker instructed the Native Democracy Reporting Service that confidence in West Midlands police has been “badly examined”, and belief wouldn’t be rebuilt if issues remained as they are, the BBC says.
France publicizes ban on 10 British anti-migrant activists
France’s inside ministry has introduced ban on 10 British anti-migrant activists who travelled to the nation, Diane Taylor studies. Officers stated they took motion after studies that members of the Increase the Colors motion had carried out anti-migrant actions in France.
The total assertion from the French inside ministry about this is here.
Priya Bharadia
Priya Bharadia is a Guardian reporter.
Merseyside’s police and crime commissioner Emily Spurrell has stop X because of the sharing and creation of sexualised imagery on Grok.
In a statement on X, Spurrell stated:
From at present my X account will not be up to date & solely utilized in case of a significant incident.
I can’t, and can not, stay on a platform that allows or tolerates the sexualised photos of kids, or ladies with out their consent.
Spurrell, who is Labour, seems to be the first PCC to go away X because of “nudified” photos being shared and created on the platform. A number of police forces have left or reduced their presence on the platform since late 2024, together with West Midlands and Derbyshire police.
Labour chief of Birmingham metropolis council says West Midlands chief constable ought to resign
John Cotton, the Labour chief of Birmingham metropolis council, has stated Craig Guildford ought to resign as chief constable of West Midlands police. In a submit on social media, he stated:
For the sake of the metropolis and area confidence wants to be restored in the management of West Midlands Police, in order that classes might be discovered and carried out. I imagine that the Chief Constable ought to stand down in order that this very important work can start directly.
In the Commons Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy chief, asks what would occur if Simon Foster, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, decides not to sack Craig Guildford as chief constable. Shabana Mahmood, the dwelling secretary, stated it was a choice for him, and it could be fallacious for her to remark.
Tice additionally requested if Mahmood would give the dwelling secretary energy to sack chief constables retrospectively (ie, for one thing that occurred before the legislation got here into pressure). Mahmood stated that retrospectivity is not usually a characteristic of UK laws, and that it could be a really large innovation to attempt that. However she urged him to look forward to the laws.
The final dwelling secretary who stated they did not have faith in a chief constable was David Blunkett. In 2001 he stated he not had confidence in Paul Whitehouse as Sussex chief constable after a police raid that led to an unarmed man being shot useless. Whitehouse resigned.
Mahmood says particular person West Midlands cops not antisemitic, however some individuals lobbying them could have been
In the Commons, in reply to a query from Bradley Thomas (Con), Mahmood stated:
These findings, after all, do not recommend that anyone at the police pressure degree acted as a result of there have been motivated by antisemitism, or with malign intent.
Nevertheless it is undoubtedly the case that some people who are making representations to the police could effectively have been motivated by antisemitism. I additionally know others made good religion representations, or wished to make good religion representations, to the police nearly the worry of public dysfunction on the night time.
Mahmood was referring to this line from Sir Andy Cooke’s report. Cooke stated:
In respect of any particular person officers, the proof I’ve seen doesn’t level to their actions having been influenced by political interference, antisemitism, every other lack of impartiality, or malign intent.
Impartial MP Ayoub Khan, who seat covers Villa Park, says West Midlands chief constable sufferer of ‘witch-hunt’
In the Commons Ayoub Khan, the unbiased MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, which covers the Villa Park floor the place the Maccabi Tel Aviv match was performed, claimed that Craig Guildford, the West Midlands chief constable, was the sufferer of a witch-hunt.
Khan stated:
This is actually a tragic day for British politics. Regardless of all the rhetoric we’ve got heard on this Home, Brummies know the fact: that this is nothing however a witch-hunt, and the chief constable is being thrown underneath the bus.
The house secretary is aware of all too effectively that West Midlands police have a fame for working with all communities. They’ve by no means caved into neighborhood strain. Everyone knows this as a result of we usually have far proper protests and marches in our metropolis.
The police may have performed a greater job when it comes to process, sure, however the causes for banning Maccabi followers was the similar from day one. Everyone knows their unashamed racism and violence. That is the cause why they had been banned …
Is it value throwing our chief constable underneath the bus simply to present that the phrases of rightwing media and Dutch officers, underneath strain from Amsterdam Metropolis Corridor, matter greater than our British police.
As Khan ended, there have been calls of “disgraceful”.
In response, Shabana Mahmood stated Khan ought to learn the report from Sir Andy Cooke. (See 2.58pm.) And he or she stated he did not converse for all Birmingham MPs. (Mahmood is MP for Birmingham Ladywood.) She stated, when the police perform a danger evaluation, individuals ought to give you the chance to be assured it is correct.
Khan was considered one of the 5 unbiased MPs elected at the final election primarily or partly on a pro-Palestinian platform. Forward of the match, he campaigned for the Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture to be cancelled, or not less than performed with out followers current – partly due to the violent file of some Maccabi followers, but additionally he wished all Israeli groups to be banned from sporting fixtures due to Israel committing “genocide” in Gaza.
Right here is the report from Sir Andy Cooke, the chief inspector of constabulary, into how West Midlands police dealt with the determination to advocate a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv followers being allowed to attend the Villa Park match.
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