The U.K. government lodged a formal protest with the BBC after a live broadcast of Saturday’s Glastonbury Festival captured incendiary chants calling for “death to the IDF,” the acronym for Israel’s Defense Forces. The remarks, led by rap-punk duo Bob Vylan on the festival’s West Holts stage, prompted criticism from ministers, police inquiries and an international outcry.
At around 8:30 p.m. BST, thousands of festival-goers joined frontman Bobby Vylan in chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF.” BBC Two’s live coverage cut away without cutting sound, prompting an on-screen warning that “very strong and discriminatory language” was being aired. By Sunday, the BBC confirmed it would not make the performance available for replay on iPlayer.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy personally contacted BBC Director-General Tim Davie to demand an “urgent explanation about what due diligence” had been conducted before the set was broadcast. “Calls for violence against any group are unacceptable, let alone on publicly funded television,” a government spokesperson said, welcoming the BBC’s decision to remove the footage from its streaming service.
Avon and Somerset Police announced they had opened a review of footage from both Bob Vylan’s and Irish-language rap group Kneecap’s West Holts performances. “Officers will assess whether any public order or hate-speech offences have been committed,” the force said in a statement. No formal investigation has yet been launched.
Glastonbury Festival organizers also distanced themselves from the remarks. “Glastonbury does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers,” the festival’s press office said. Festival founder Michael Eavis has long defended the lineup’s diversity of political views, but stressed that explicit calls to violence cross a “clear line.”
The Israeli Embassy in London took to the social-media platform X to express that it was “deeply disturbed by inflammatory and hateful rhetoric” broadcast live in the U.K. While no formal diplomatic démarche has been lodged, Israeli officials have privately urged their British counterparts to ensure the BBC implements stricter content controls.
Kneecap’s later set did not include anti-Israeli chants, but the group has itself courted controversy: frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh—known onstage as Mo Chara—is on bail after being charged with displaying the flag of proscribed group Hezbollah at a 2023 gig. He denies the allegation, and has said his lyrics critique “colonialism and oppression” rather than incite violence.
Media analysts say the affair puts fresh pressure on broadcasters to vet live festival coverage more rigorously. “The challenge is real-time moderation,” said Dr. Amina Hassan, a lecturer in media policy at Goldsmiths, University of London. “Live feeds can quickly slip outside acceptable boundaries, yet editors cannot simply kill a feed without disappointing vast audiences.”
For its part, the BBC has launched an internal review of its editorial processes. A spokesperson said: “We understand the strength of feeling around this issue, and we’re reviewing our procedures to ensure something like this does not happen again.”
As Glastonbury approaches its final days, festival-goers and industry observers alike will be watching closely to see how organizers, broadcasters and police navigate the line between free expression and unlawful hate speech.
