Home secretary to make statement on West Midlands Police later, says Starmerpublished at 13:02 GMT
13:02 GMT
A few minutes ago we heard Conservative MP Nick Timothy raise controversy around the chief of West Midlands Police Craig Guildford, who earlier today admitted to misleading MPs.
He admitted AI had been used in an assessment which led to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from attending Aston Villa’s stadium in November, a decision which has been strongly criticised by MPs of all parties.
Timothy says West Midlands Police “fabricated intelligence”, and goes on to accuse police forces more broadly of bowing to pressure from “Islamists”. He calls for an investigation into “the corruption of our criminal justice system”.
Starmer repeats his criticism of the West Midland Police over the Maccabi Tel Aviv decision, and says Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will be making a statement on the matter later today.
Starmer points out that the ability of the government to sack chief constables was stripped under Theresa May’s police reforms, adding: “It was him [Timothy] working for Theresa May that stripped that power away.”
If you want to read more about the West Midlands Police row, you can follow our coverage here.