Aston Villa’s football ground cannot be a “no-go area” for Jews, Ed Miliband has said.
The Energy Secretary was the latest senior Government figure to insist that the ban on fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv attending a Europa League match against Aston Villa next month must be overturned.
Pressure has been mounting on local authorities in Birmingham after they announced the Israeli team’s fans would be barred from attending the November 6 game amid safety concerns.
West Midlands Police classified the fixture as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents”.
The force pointed to violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam.
Asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips if Villa Park was now a no-go area for Jews as a result of the decision, Mr Miliband said: “No, and it can’t be, and I’m very, very clear about that.”
Mr Miliband, who is from a Jewish family, said: “We cannot have a situation where any area is a no-go area for people of a particular religion or from a particular country, and we’ve got to stamp out all forms of prejudice, antisemitism, Islamophobia, wherever we find them.”
The minister was also asked by Sky News about a petition, supported by independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr Ayoub Khan, which called for the match to be halted and for a boycott of Israeli teams playing in the UK.
Mr Miliband said he “profoundly” disagreed with Mr Khan’s approach.
The “vast majority of Muslim people in this country would disassociate themselves” from suggestions that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans could not come to Aston Villa because it was a predominantly Muslim area, the minister said.
But Mr Miliband stressed that “integration is not something you can ever take for granted”, when asked about concerns that a lack of integration had contributed to the situation.
The Government is expecting West Midlands Police to set out early next week what they would need to police the game safely with both sets of fans present.
Birmingham’s safety advisory group (SAG), which brings together the council and police force, is expected to raise the issue at a meeting early next week.
While ministers have been pressing hard for the ban to be overturned, Birmingham City Council said on Friday it would not be reviewed unless there was a change in the risk assessment provided by the police.
There has been widespread criticism from across the political spectrum of the decision to implement the ban.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho was the latest senior Tory to describe the move as a “disgrace”.
Ms Coutinho told Sky News that police regularly covered other high-risk events.
“What you’ve seen is policing in this country has been able to protect people at the Notting Hill Carnival, where people are routinely injured, it’s protected people through the Palestinian marches,” she said.
“Like I said, if you look at the context, I think it’s really important that they do this.”
Sir Keir Starmer was “angered” by the decision, No 10 said last week, adding that the Prime Minister was “entitled to speak out on fundamental principles of fairness like this”.
But senior officers at the UK Football Policing Unit have backed the move, saying it was “important that we respect and support the structures in place for making these decisions”.
The unit said the Home Office was briefed “last week” that “restrictions on visiting fans” could be among the measures taken to police the fixture at Villa Park.
It is understood the Home Office was briefed that a ban was being considered, but no decision had been taken and the Home Secretary was not informed of the final decision until it was made public on Thursday night.
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