Glastonbury Festival says it’s “appalled” by comments made about the Israeli military on one of its stages on Saturday, as ITV News Entertainment Reporter Rishi Davda reports
Sir Keir Starmer said chants of “death” to the Israel Defence Forces at Glastonbury were “appalling hate speech” and urged the BBC to explain how the scenes were broadcast.
Punk dup 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.
Responding to the chants from Bob Vylan, the Prime Minister 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.”
Avon and Somerset Police said they are assessing video evidence to “determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.”
Festival organisers also released a statement on Sunday, saying they too were appalled by the comments, adding that the duo “very much crossed a line”.
A joint Instagram post from Glastonbury and Emily Eavis said: “As a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism.
“We will always believe in – and actively campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love.
“With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer’s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.
“However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday.
“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.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the chants a “disgrace”, adding that the BBC and festival have “questions to answer”.
Speaking to ITV News, he said: “I think the BBC and Glastonbury have serious questions to answer about how this act went ahead and was broadcast in the way that it was, and the Culture Secretary will be talking to the BBC Director General about that.
“I think those remarks were attention seeking and publicity seeking.
“Actually what we should be focusing on is the disgraceful terrorist settler violence we saw in the Palestinian west bank against Palestinian people, Israel’s conduct in Gaza, and the fact that the perverse irony of what we saw at Glastonbury, the fact that there were innocent Israelis taken from a music festival by Hamas, raped, murdered and still held captive.
“We’ve got to end this conflict. We’ve got to see the hostages released, and that’s what the government is working towards.”
On social media, the Israeli Embassy said it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival”.
In a statement, 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.”
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.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it would be formally complaining to the BBC over its “outrageous decision” to broadcast Bob Vylan.
A spokesperson said: “Our national broadcaster must apologise for its dissemination of this extremist vitriol, and those responsible must be removed from their positions.”
A BBC spokesperson 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.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general about Bob Vylan’s performance, a government spokesperson said.
The rap-trio Kneecap have been in the headlines after member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence. He denies the charges.
In reference to his bandmate’s forthcoming court date, Naoise O Caireallain, 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 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer 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.
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