A controversial mosque involved in a police force’s decision to ban Israeli football fans from a match in Britain was represented on the panel that appointed its chief constable.
Kamran Hussain, who was chief executive of Green Lane mosque, was part of the interview team that assessed Craig Guildford before he was made chief of West Midlands police three years ago.
Last autumn, the force consulted the mosque before banning Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a Europa League fixture against Aston Villa. This was disclosed by Guildford in a letter to MPs on the home affairs committee.
Police retrospectively came up with false intelligence to support the ban, which has caused controversy at the highest political level. They were also accused of concealing intelligence that local Islamist protesters planned to attack Israeli football fans if they were allowed into Birmingham.
It has since emerged that speakers at Green Lane mosque have espoused controversial views. During a sermon just before Christmas, a preacher said that men could physically discipline their wives as a “last resort” and that women should not leave the house without permission from their husband. The mosque said that sections of the sermon had been taken out of context and its central theme was love, mercy, personal responsibility and an unequivocal rejection of harm, coercion, oppression or abuse.
Chief constable’s job in the balance
The football ban, and the discredited reasons for it, have left Guildford fighting for his job. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has said he should be sacked.
Guildford’s fate could be decided as early as next week when a report on the affair by Sir Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary, is likely to be handed to Shabana Mahmood. The home secretary is expected to share Cooke’s findings with parliament.
Documents released under freedom of information law reveal that Guildford was appointed in December 2022 after appearing before an interview panel organised by Simon Foster, the Labour police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, and featuring Hussain of Green Lane mosque. It is unclear who else sat on the panel because of redactions to the documents.
Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk and a supporter of Aston Villa, said: “This alarming story sums up the whole problem. West Midlands police relied on false intelligence to justify banning Israeli fans from Villa Park at the behest of Islamist agitators. They discussed the decision with Green Lane mosque. Who do we think is in charge here? The obvious conclusion is that it is not the police.”
The away end at Villa Park was empty on November 6
JAMES GILL-DANEHOUSE/GETTY IMAGES
• Nick Timothy: Police caved to the Maccabi ban mob. We have to take the power back
Lord Austin of Dudley, the former Labour MP who campaigns against antisemitism, said: “Of course the police must engage with local groups, but they must be careful to avoid institutions who might shout the loudest but hold views which most mainstream British Muslims do not share.”
Guildford was paid £215,300 in 2024-25 despite retiring from his job for a month under a controversial scheme to protect the value of his pension pot. He was allowed to quietly step down from the force on November 15, 2024, before rejoining as chief constable on December 16.
The so-called “retire and rejoin” policy is intended to help long-serving officers stop their pension falling in value after they have accrued 30 years’ service. It means Guildford would have received a salary equivalent to £234,873 had he worked the full 12 months, an inflation-busting 5.6 per cent increase on the £222,500 he was paid in 2023-24.
Although the total value of Guildford’s pension pot is not published by West Midlands Police, he received pension contributions worth £73,400 in 2024-25 compared with £66,600 the previous year.
In evidence to parliament last week, he apologised for the lack of transparency and for misleading MPs about the basis for the Maccabi Tel Aviv ban. He admitted that the force had failed to disclose the threats to Israeli fans, and that the intelligence cited in public statements was based on an unminuted Zoom call with Dutch police, the details of which remain disputed.
He also apologised for the “focus” the affair had placed on the local Jewish community, but insisted there had been “no conspiracy” and the decision was taken in good faith to prevent disorder.
Hardline sermons
The Green Lane mosque, in Birmingham’s Small Heath district, is one of the largest and most influential Islamic institutions in the UK. It has previously hosted preachers who have espoused hardline views.
Before Christmas, Aqeel Mahmood preached that husbands could physically discipline their wives as a “last resort” and that women should not leave the house without their husband’s permission. The mosque said the comments had been taken out of context and that it “categorically rejects harm of any kind”. The National Secular Society has reported the sermon to the regulator, saying it “condoned ‘physical discipline’ of women and promoted a highly controlling, sexist attitude towards wives”. The regulator confirmed it had opened a regulatory compliance case to gather more information and check the mosque’s compliance with previous interventions.
Green Lane mosque has said it is committed to “community cohesion and mutual respect”, and that it provides domestic abuse counselling and other services for women. It said that “extracting isolated phrases from longer lectures and presenting them as advocacy for abuse is misleading and does not reflect the values, policies, or legal obligations of the charity”.
Foster, the police and crime commissioner, said Guildford was appointed following “an extensive and wide-ranging process, that included consultation with the College of Policing, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the National Police Chiefs’ Council”.
He added: “There then followed a rigorous application and selection process that included a panel of young people, a panel of partner agencies, a panel of police officers and staff, an appointment panel and an independent policing adviser.
“The appointment of the chief constable, who was a candidate from outside West Midlands police, was unanimously approved by an all-party police and crime panel. The then chief executive [of Green Lane mosque] was one person, amongst 53 people, involved in the appointment panels process.
“As police and crime commissioner, the decision to appoint the chief constable was mine and mine alone.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The government has been clear throughout that we disagreed with the decision to ban away fans from the match in November. We should not be a country where we tell people to stay away from certain events because we cannot protect them, or they may be a victim of racism.
“That is why the home secretary asked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to investigate how the decision was reached. We cannot comment further until the home secretary has received the chief inspector’s findings and considered them.”
Green Lane mosque was approached for comment.