The Jew hate and two-tier policing I saw at Villa Park

The authorities picked a side this week and lied about it. They turned their backs on Jews and the law-abiding public - and did the bidding of vile, Islamist thugs

I have been attending Aston Villa matches for nearly forty years. These days, as the MP for West Suffolk, I don’t always get to use my season ticket, but I go when I can.

Knowing the controversy about the Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, played on Thursday evening, I got to Villa Park early. Walking past my old school and through the public park on the way to the ground, it all felt quite normal.

But as I turned on to Trinity Road, the noise of the hateful anti-Israeli – and yes, anti-Semitic – crowd reached me. “Death, death to the IDF,” yelled the crowd. Later, “Kill, kill the IDF,” and the genocidal chant, “from the river to the sea.”