Speeches by Moore.

“That is a no answer. The point is that it is very unclear to us. The evidence that has been presented by the Dutch authorities is very different from the analogy of events that took place and, dare I say, which side was against one another in the evidence that has been provided by West Midlands police.”

“There has been quite a lot of damage. Community tensions have been raised. How, as a council, have you sought to reassure the Jewish community within Birmingham beyond the ultimate decision that was made and the months that have passed since?”

“Has that been triggered in relation to these two councillors?”

“It was just written correspondence and no physical engagement or conversations.”

“Here we are. Nationally, concerns have been raised. Councillor Cotton, have you raised these concerns and triggered this process?”

“Why not?”

“Maybe this is for you, Councillor Cotton. How did the council seek to communicate the decision of the SAG ultimately with those in the community who were being impacted by the decision?”

“It had no view on that.”

“You are clearly here raising concerns. You have said yourself in this meeting that you have concerns around the views that were expressed. You acknowledged that you have not seen tweets et cetera, but you have expressed views. Mr Brooks has also raised concerns, but yet disciplinary process or action against those two …”

“It was downgraded, but then not necessarily included within the final report.”

“Just finally, why was the threat level to local Jewish communities initially downgraded to medium and then not featured in the West Midlands police final report?”

“Is it reasonable to check those mosques that had had that level of accusation made against them before engaging with them?”

“—including ones that had a previous documented history of antisemitism prior to the decision being made with Maccabi fans. Are you aware that those mosques had that history?”

“Going on to community impact assessment issues, what was your assessment of the advice from the SAG on the level of risks to different communities in Birmingham and to the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans? Can you explain why the level of risk changed over the course of time in some cases?”

“Before the risk level changed, even though you had going to mutual aid at your disposal, was that something that you had considered?”

“Did you, as the chief constable, at any point request additional resource to deal with the initial recommendation of allowing a limited number of fans to attend?”

“Is that documented anywhere for us to be able to see that that was a consideration?”

“Given the level of public interest in this, and the fact that this is your second time in front of the Committee, did you anticipate any of the fallout that would then come from the decision that had been made by the SAG? As part of that process, in discussions with the Home Office, did you seek any additional resource…”

“You were just saying that you sought reassurance as part of the process that the procedure had been undertaken appropriately, but were you reassured?”

“So despite the narrative that has come out from the Government, no concerns were raised to West Midlands police in that period of time, even though we have heard in the evidence session now that there were counter-protests from the far right as a result of a ban being put in place.”