The BBC has been told that it must explain why it failed to pull the plug on Glastonbury act Bob Vylan after the band led chants of “death to the IDF” on Saturday.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among those demanding answers from the BBC over its decision to live stream Bob Vylan’s set, with the issue dominating the front pages of UK newspapers on Monday.
“There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech,” Starmer said in a statement. “The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.”
The BBC did not cut away from Bob Vylan, despite the punk band platforming controversial slogans like, “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be, free,” and complaining about working for a “f***ing Zionist.”
The set remained on iPlayer for more than five hours before being removed by the BBC, though the corporation did issue a warning about “very strong and discriminatory language.”
The BBC’s decision to carry the Glastonbury set, taken within hours of a separate call not to live broadcast Kneecap over hate speech fears, has led to some calls for executives to be prosecuted.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “By broadcasting [Bob Vylan’s] vile hatred, the BBC appears to have also broken the law. I call on the police to urgently investigate and prosecute.”
Danny Cohen, the former BBC TV chief, said the corporation’s failure to cut away from Bob Vylan will send a “shiver of fear, despair, disgust, and shock” down the spines of the UK’s Jewish community.
“Someone in that [broadcast] gallery, someone representing the BBC, chose to keep that feed going, chose to keep that live broadcast going, rather than breaking away and immediately apologizing,” Cohen told Sky News.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive. During this livestream 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.”
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