Starmer condemns ‘appalling’ Bob Vylan chants against IDF at Glastonbury Festival

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned UK punk duo Bob Vylan for “appalling hate speech” and urging “death” to Israeli troops at the Glastonbury Festival. Rapper Vylan had triggered a major controversy at his Glastonbury Festival performance when he led the crowd to chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF.” Glastonbury Festival organisers said they were “appalled” by the incident that prompted a backlash from government officials and the Israeli embassy, while police launched an official investigation into possible hate speech or incitement.
In a statement, Starmer said the BBC had questions to answer over its live broadcast of the group’s performance on Saturday.

A BBC spokesperson previously said some of the comments were “deeply offensive”, adding it had issued a warning on screen about “very strong and discriminatory language”.

Starmer also criticised the Irish-language rap group Kneecap, who previously described Israel’s military action in Gaza as a genocide.

He 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.”

Culture Secretary seeks urgent explanation from BBC on its vetting process

A government spokesperson said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had pressed BBC boss Tim Davie for an urgent explanation of the broadcaster's vetting process.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Bob Vylan's comments were “revolting” and added that the “irony of that music festival is that Israelis were taken from a music festival, killed, raped and in some cases are still being held captive”.

Glastonbury Festival against all forms of war and terrorism, says organiser

A joint Instagram post from Glastonbury Festival and organiser Emily Eavis on Sunday said the event stood “against all forms of war and terrorism”, and that with almost 4,000 performances on site “there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share”.

“However, we are appalled by the statements made by Bob Vylan. 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.”

‘Deeply disturbed by inflammatory and hateful rhetoric’

The Embassy of Israel in the UK issued a statement noting that it is deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric. “Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy. But when speech crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing, it must be called out—especially when amplified by public figures on prominent platforms,” it said. Chants such as “Death to the IDF,” and “From the river to the sea” are slogans that advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel and implicitly call for the elimination of Jewish self-determination. When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence,” the statement added.