Lisa Nandy emphasised that the original decision was to ban all MTA fans, including what she described as the majority who would be British fans of the team, as distinct from the thugs ( not her word) exported from Tel Aviv, who were once again involved in rioting at their own match which was abandoned, last night. This was mentioned in the debate, as was their dreadful record.
Ian Duncan Smith mentioned that MTA managed to attend a game in Istanbul with no trouble. Another MP (missed his name) pointed out that the match was banned in Turkey, was actually played in Hungary and behind closed doors, hence no trouble!
It’s clear that the government wants all fans to be able to attend. She stated their determination to support the WM police ( fending off a call for the CS’s resignation by Reform, helpful as always) in making it possible for the game to go ahead with both sets of fans in attendance.
There were some pertinent questions and comments which recognised that identifying British Jewish fans of MTA and other clubs with being responsible for the actions of what Zarah Sultana called the apartheid Israeli government in Gaza was antisemitic and that the residents of Aston and the wider community of Birmingham had a right to feel safe. This would not be likely with a bunch of ‘fans’ marching along, singing about killing Palestinian children, as Ms Nandy agreed.
However, several MPs made clear interventions about the safety of Muslim local residents and then sat back and chatted or yelled during her answer. This behaviour was no help at all, my opinion, and undermined their position, which was strong to begin with. It’s already a charged issue and the idea is to make it safe for everyone, not just specific groups of fans.
Quite what this means on the day, especially the arrangements for meeting and travelling to VP for the Israeli contingent specifically, is not yet clear but it seems there is an absolute determination to make the match open to all and to make it work for everyone, including the residents of Aston.
Our club came off OK despite a Tory London creep who attempted to argue that Chelsea does these things better and that they’d have no problem in the same situation.
