Speeches by Reid.

“We will ask the council at the next session, but, just for clarity, this is my understanding. That SAG meeting on 7 October, which Paul is referring to, was where the decision was made to ban Israeli fans. It refers to an absence of intelligence. On 8 October, our understanding is that the chair of the SAG notified you…”

“That was after the decision.”

“Anything.”

“I will tell you what I am struggling with. The main source of intelligence is from a private conversation with the Dutch police, which they are denying the contents of. They have publicly doubled down on that since this news was published. That is your main source of intelligence. You are willing to share publicly that…”

““We decided to ban the away fans because they had a conversation on the phone”. I just do not understand.”

“That is absolutely outrageous.”

“Who appoints the councillor members of the SAG?”

“Did you have any discussions at any point that recognised that there were councillors—some of your councillors—who were campaigning publicly to not just ban away fans but stop the match in its entirety? Did that at any point come to you as leader of the council?”

“Specifically, what was the clincher, other than the conversation that you had with the Dutch police and the googling of information?”

“You did not see the tweets.”

“I will tell you exactly what I mean. On 7 October it was minuted that there was “an absence of intelligence”. The SAG chair notifies you that you need a clearer rationale for the decision to ban Israeli fans. That was required for legal reasons. On the 16th, the information/intelligence is provided in the form of the m…”

“You talk about this intelligence flow. I am just trying to get a sense of what that intelligence flow and information looks like. From everything that we have read and seen, it boils down to one conversation that was not minuted and some inaccurate information about the football team in question. Can you put us right? …”

“You were not aware that the intelligence or information was not included in those minutes upon which the decision to ban fans was decided.”

“I asked earlier about whether your local authority had adopted the IHRA definition. You said yes, which is nice to hear. I think that you are right. I think that this incident has damaged the reputation of Birmingham as a whole. It has allowed people to spread myths about Israelis being uniquely evil and unable to come…”

“Are there any ongoing investigations into the conduct of those councillors on the SAG?”

“Sorry, I missed the very beginning of the meeting. Are you the legal counsel?”

“I am not asking about the process. I do not want to know about the process. I am asking for specific bits of information and intelligence. If you are saying to me that we are not entitled to that or it is private and confidential, please do say that.”

“Have you read the minutes?”

“That was my other question.”

“Have you read the minutes in which the decision was made?”