Labour Minister Savages Decision To Ban Israeli Football Fans From Attending Match
A government minister has hit out at the “wrong decision” to ban Israeli football fans from attending a match in Birmingham.
Ian Murray said people should not be prevented from attending public events because of their “race, religion or creed”.
He said most people in the UK would be “horrified” by the ban.
His comments came as Keir Starmer and Downing Street officials try to ensure Maccabi Tel Aviv are able to watch their team take on Aston Villa in the Europa League next month.
A furious political row has erupted after the city’s Safety Advisory Group, which is responsible for issuing safety certificates for every match at Villa Park, told the club no away fans will be permitted to attend the November 6 fixture.
The decision was backed by West Midlands Police, who said they had classed the match as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences” during a Maccabi Tel Aviv versus Ajax match in Amsterdam last year.
In a post on X, Starmer said: “This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
On BBC Breakfast on Friday, Murray, the digital services minister, said: “It shouldn’t be the case that anyone, regardless of your race, religion or your background should be banned from going to public events. We should be able to make people safe.
“It’s the wrong decision in terms of the message it sends out for anti-semitism, but it’s also the wrong decision in terms of the entire country, that you would be banned from going to public events if you’re of the wrong race, religion or creed.”
He added: “The police have been policing high-level football matches for decades and generations and should be able to make sure that people are safe.
“We can’t be in a position as a country where we’re determining people are not able to go to public events like football matches, concerts or festivals or otherwise on the basis of their race, religion or background.
“That is just the wrong decision to make and police need to look at how they can facilitate making sure this can happen.”
“People waking up and reading about this and seeing and watching it will be quite horrified that we’ve decided that we’re not going to allow people to attend a football match on the basis of their race, religion or background,” the minister said.