Starmer demands BBC explanation for broadcasting Bob Vylan's 'appalling' chant

Daily Mirror

7 hours ago

Chanting on a stage at Glastonbury, Bob Vylan called for the death of Israeli soldiers, footage which was available on BBC iPlayer until the corporation took it down
Keir Starmer has demanded BBC bosses "explain" how a punk duo calling for the death of Israeli soldiers was broadcast from Glastonbury.
Pro-Palestine act Bob Vylan chanted "death, death to the IDF" in a sickening rant on stage at the festival. Bobby Vylan, singer and guitarist of the duo, has since posted a defiant message on Instagram, despite police confirming officers are looking into his tirade.
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And the Prime Minister, who also said Glastonbury Festival organisers should not have let controversial rappers Kneecap appear on stage, has described Bob Bylan's words as "appalling hate speech". Mr Starmer, 62, said: "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."
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The BBC, which did not stream Kneecap live, conceded comments made by Bob Vylan were "deeply offensive". The duo's performance is no longer available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Event chiefs said they were "appalled" after the music double act led the crowd in "death to the IDF" chants during their performance. Glastonbury had previously said all are welcome at the festival but added it "does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers".
Referring to Bob Vylan, Glastonbury organisers said on Sunday: "Their chants very much crossed a line and 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."
Israeli politicians, including the country's deputy foreign minister, Sharren Haskel, blasted the BBC and Glastonbury for failing to cut off the performance during the live broadcast.
The singer from the pro-Palestine punk act, who keeps his identity secret, also shouted "from the river to the sea Palestine... will be free" - regarded by Jews as a call for Israel 's elimination. IDF stands for Israel Defence Forces, the national military of the State of Israel, which is currently involved with the war in Gaza, one of two remaining Palestinian territories.
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Avon and Somerset Police are now examining video evidence and investigating if any offence had been committed. However, Bobby Vylan has since said on Instagram: "I said what I said." The dad shared a lengthy statement to follow up, in which he stated: "Tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy."
A BBC spokesperson said: "We have made an on-demand version of Kneecap's performance available on iPlayer, as part of our online collection of more than 90 other sets.
"We have edited it to ensure the content falls within the limits of artistic expression in line with our editorial guidelines and reflects the performance from Glastonbury's West Holts stage.
"As with all content which includes strong language, this is signposted with appropriate warnings. As we have said before, acts are booked by the festival, and the BBC doesn't ban artists. We didn't stream Kneecap live.
"Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive. 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."