Sir Keir Starmer has demanded an explanation from the BBC after a punk band at Glastonbury called for the “death” of the Israel Defence Forces.
The Prime Minister accused the Corporation of airing “hate speech” when Bobby Vylan, of Bob Vylan, led crowds on the festival’s West Holts Stage in chants of “Death, death to the IDF”, before a member of Irish rap trio Kneecap suggested fans “start a riot” at his bandmate’s forthcoming court appearance.
Bob Vylan’s performance on Saturday, which was streamed live on iPlayer, led to an apology from the festival organisers, who said they were “appalled” by the remarks.
The PM, who previously called for Kneecap’s Glastonbury invitation to be rescinded, said: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.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.”
The festival added: “We stand against all forms of war and terrorism… there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”
It came as Health Secretary West Streeting said the chants were “appalling” and that the BBC has “questions to answer” for airing the controversial performance.
As police examine videos of their comments, Mr Streeting told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “I thought it’s appalling, to be honest, and I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens.”
Mr Streeting said what people should be talking about in the context of Israel and Gaza is the humanitarian catastrophe and the fact that Israeli settlers attacked the Christian village of Taybeh this week.
He added: “The fact that we saw that chant at a music festival, when there were Israelis at a similar music festival who were kidnapped, murdered, raped, and in some cases still held captive, whether it’s a Palestinian or an Israeli, whether it’s a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim, all life is precious.
“All life is sacred. And I find it pretty revolting we’ve got to a state in this conflict where you’re supposed to sort of cheer on one side or the other like it’s a football team.”
Asked if the BBC should have cut the live feed, Mr Streeting said the broadcaster has questions to answer, but that he did not know what the editorial and operational “challenges” are of taking such action.
Bob Vylan at Glastonbury got the crowd to chant “death, death to the IDF”.
— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) June 28, 2025
Adding “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. Inshallah” at the end.
Completely unacceptable. Underneath the inclusivity facade, Glastonbury has become a hate fest. pic.twitter.com/URaMarlPJe
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Bob Vylan was “inciting violence and hatred” and should be arrested and prosecuted.
“By broadcasting his vile hatred, the BBC appear to have also broken the law,” he said.
“I call on the Police to urgently investigate and prosecute the BBC as well for broadcasting this. Our national broadcaster should not be transmitting hateful material designed to incite violence and conflict,” he posted on X.
Mr Philp compared the incident to the case of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for 31 months last year for inciting racial hatred after publishing a racist social media post, in the wake of last year’s Southport attack which saw Axel Rudakubana kill three children in a knife rampage.
“He should receive the same treatment under the law as others, such as Lucy Connolly. He should be arrested and prosecuted immediately. A failure to do so would be a clear example of two-tier justice under Sir Keir Starmer,” he said.
Avon and Somerset Police said video evidence would be assessed by officers “to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation”.
On social media, the Israeli Embassy said it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes “grotesque”, writing on X: “Glorifying violence against Jews isn’t edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked.”
A BBC spokesman said: “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.”
Meanwhile, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general tim davie about Bob Vylan’s performance.
Kneecap, who hail from Belfast, have also been in the headlines after member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged under the Terrorism Act for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag and chanting pro-Hamas slogans during a gig in London.
During their Glastonbury gig after Bob Vylan, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, said they would “start a riot outside the courts”, before clarifying: “No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine”.
In the run-up to the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, several politicians called for the group to be removed from the line-up and Sir Keir said their performance would not be “appropriate”.
During the performance, Caireallain said: “The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.”
He also said a “big thank you to the Eavis family” and said “they stood strong” amid calls for the organisers to drop them from the line-up.
Both performances came less than two years after the October 7 massacre, when more than 1,200 people were murdered across southern Israel and 251 were taken hostage, including revellers from the Nova music festival.
Israel's response has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gazan health officials, and destroyed much of the coastal territory.
Danny Cohen, former Director of BBC Television, commented: “This chant was nothing less than incitement to violence against the world’s only Jewish state.
“That something like this might happen could easily have been foreseen by the BBC, and measures could have been taken to prevent its broadcast.”
A spokesman for the Labour Friends of Israel told The Telegraph: “To watch chants at Glastonbury less than two years later calling for incitement to murder is simply disgusting. It shows that, for extremists in the anti-Israel movement, the goal isn’t peace but death and destruction.”
Avon and Somerset Police said: “We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival. Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.”
Festival organiser Emily Eavis previously defended her decision to host Kneecap, saying: “There have been a lot of really heated topics this year, but we remain a platform for many, many artists from all over the world and, you know, everyone is welcome here.”
Other Glastonbury acts have voiced their support for Palestine, including British singer Nilufer Yanya and former Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall.
