Minister 'horrified' police chief still in job

If the chief constable of West Midlands Police is still in office by the end of the day, a senior Cabinet minister has said he will be

horrified. Wes Streeting, the health minister, told Times Radio Craig Guildford's resignation was

a stain on his character. It comes after Guildford apologised for giving incorrect information to a Home AffAIrs Select Committee, which included the suggestion that AI was not used in a study that resulted in the ban of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters at Aston Villa. Following an update on a damning report by the chief inspector of constabulary and what she described as a matter of leadership, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood expressed disappointment in the chief constable's.

I really believed that, having deceived Parliament, deceives the public, and having one of his own local MPs, the Home Secretary, who had lost confidence in him,

Streeting said, I must resign.The fact that he hasn't hasn’t is a mark on his character that if he doesn't respond quickly, he won't be able to fix. "I hope he does the right thing. If he is still in office at the end of the day, I would be horrified.

The decision to exclude supporters of the Israeli football team from attending Villa Park in November was based on a preliminary investigation by the policing watchdog into the force's intelligence service. Sir Andy Cooke, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said several inaccuracies had been included in a report published by Birmingham's crime advisory group, which included a non-existent fixture between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham, according to his Majesty's Chief Inspector. Guildford first suggested the incorrect information had been found in a Google search or on social media, but in e-mAIl sent to the Home AffAIrs Committee (HAC), the result of using an AI bot was the result.

I would like to offer my sincere apology to the committee for this blunder,

he said.

I had assumed and was told that the match had been found by a Google search in preparation for attending HAC.

My suspicion that this was the case was untrue, and there was no intent to deceive the committee.

The force has also apologised after the particulars of Sir Andy's findings were revealed, and it said it would

work tirelessly to reclaim hope. On January 27, Guildford will be interviewed by Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, who has the power to fire him.

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