Labour tries to project authority over Birmingham police furore

Shabana Mahmood unveiled new powers to allow her – and future Home Secretaries – to sack police constables

Shabana Mahmood has declared she has “no confidence” in the police chief who was behind the decision to ban Israeli fans from travelling to Birmingham for a football match.

The Home Secretary said the report into the incident was “damning” and revealed widespread failings at the force headed by Craig Guildford. Those alleged failings include inaccuracies and “exaggerated” information in the intelligence police used to justify the ban.

Crucially, Mahmood also unveiled new powers that will allow her – and future Home Secretaries – to sack police constables. The Conservatives removed that ability from the government in 2011. Since then, only police and crime commissioners have held that power.

Mahmood said: “When a Chief Constable is responsible for a damaging failure of leadership, the public rightly expect the Home Secretary to act. And I intend to restore their ability to do so.”

She added: “This Government will soon reintroduce the Home Secretary’s power to dismiss Chief Constables.”

It’s worth noting what connects this story to the other big issue of the week: the nudification of children and women by AI on X. On both issues in the past week, the Labour government has intervened using legislation. Liz Kendall could have announced that the government was removing itself from X in protest at the nudification issue, and Shabana Mahmood could have declared she had no confidence in the West Midlands police chief and left it at that. Instead, both have used the powers available to them as the British government to force a change.

The decisions are part of a determined effort from the top of the Labour party not to look, or be, powerless; to use the levers at its disposal as the British state to intervene; to act when things are happening of which it and the British public disapprove. Number 10’s analysis is that the British public is frustrated with politics and the pace of change under Labour. Only a determined effort to use the powers at its disposal to change things will change that perception. These are only two early examples. But if we see any more in the coming weeks, it will be a trend.