A senior Cabinet minister has said he will be “horrified” if the chief constable of West Midlands Police is still in post by the end of the day.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Times Radio Craig Guildford’s failure to resign was “a stain on his character”.
It comes after Guildford apologised for providing incorrect evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee, which included the denial that AI was used in a report that led to the ban of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at Aston Villa.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also stated she had lost confidence in the chief constable, following an update on a “damning” review from the chief inspector of constabulary and what she called a “failure of leadership”.
Streeting said: “I genuinely thought that, having misled Parliament, that having misled the public, and having had one of his own local MPs, the Home Secretary, saying she had lost confidence in him, I honestly thought that anyone with integrity would at that point say ‘I have to resign’.
“The fact he hasn’t, I really think, is a stain on his character that, if he doesn’t act quickly, he won’t be able to remove.
“I hope he does the right thing. I will be horrified if he is still in post at the end of the day.”
A preliminary review by the policing watchdog into the force’s intelligence gathering found “confirmation bias” influenced the decision to bar supporters of the Israeli football team from attending Villa Park in November.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Andy Cooke said several “inaccuracies” had been included in a report given to Birmingham’s safety advisory group by West Midlands Police, including reference to a non-existent fixture between between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham.
In evidence to MPs, Guildford initially suggested the erroneous information had been identified in a Google search or through social media, but in a letter to the Home Affairs Committee (HAC) published on Wednesday said it was the result of using an AI tool.
“I would like to offer my profound apology to the committee for this error,” he said.
“I had understood and been advised that the match had been identified by way of a Google search in preparation for attending HAC.
“My belief that this was the case was honestly held and there was no intention to mislead the committee.”
The force has also apologised after the details of Sir Andy’s findings came to light and said it would “work tirelessly to rebuild confidence”.
Guildford faces a meeting on 27 January to be questioned by Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster who has the authority to sack him.
