Mark Andrews casts a wry eye over the week's news

Next month Maccabi Tel Aviv will come to the West Midlands for a Europa League clash against Aston Villa.

Or at least their players will. Their supporters won't be allowed. Apparently, the 'safety advisory group', a faceless body that appears to be made up of Birmingham Council members and the Old Bill, thinks the presence of Israeli football fans will inevitably lead to pitched battles with our homegrown Hamas groupies

What message does that send around the world about both Britain, and the West Midlands? Not only do the streets of Birmingham resemble the last days of Hamelin because the bins go unemptied, but it's also such a hotbed of anti-semitism that it's........

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