Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called on the BBC to explain how a punk duo's chant calling for the death of Israeli soldiers was broadcast from the Glastonbury Festival. The act, Bob Vylan, led the crowd in chants of 'death, death to the IDF' during their performance on the West Holts stage.
Sir Keir described the chant as 'appalling hate speech' and said festival organisers should not have allowed the duo to perform. He stated: 'There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech. I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.'
The BBC, which did not stream Kneecap live, conceded the comments were 'deeply offensive' and has removed the Bob Vylan performance from iPlayer. A BBC spokesperson said: 'During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.'
Glastonbury organisers said they were 'appalled' and that the chants 'very much crossed a line'. They added: 'We are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.'
Avon and Somerset Police are examining video evidence to determine if any offence was committed. Meanwhile, Bobby Vylan, the singer who keeps his identity secret, posted a defiant message on Instagram saying 'I said what I said' and 'Tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy.'
