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Banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Villa Park next month is a “disgrace”, shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said.

Asked for her reaction to the decision on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, she said: “I think it’s a disgrace.

“I think to say that we could not possibly police Israeli Jewish fans to watch a football match safely is reinforcing that message that Jews are not welcome here.”

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Ms Coutinho said 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 added.

“Like I said, if you look at the

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