Entertainment Swindon

Calls for BBC Director General Tim Davie to resign over the grotesque live streaming of Bob Vylan is just the tip of the iceberg, the once hippy vibe of Glastonbury has become a hotbed for extreme activism, from the appearance of Jeremy Corbyn ranting on stage in 2017, to the allowing of IRA supporting group Kneecap performing last year by Glastonbury’s organisers to again allowing Kneecap back on stage this year with their front man charged with terror offences and Bob Vylan who this year took things to another level calling for the murder of IDF soldiers!

There are now calls for even Glastonbury to be put in a box and never to raise its ugly head again. Glastonbury no longer stands for peace and love, it stands for giving a stage to terrorist supporters and chants to murder people. It’s as if Glastonbury want to shock people, a place for hate to raise its head.

Police have now formerly opened a criminal investigation into the calls to murder members of the IDF and the comments by Bob Vylan and the comments made by Kneecap.

Currently the performances by Kneecap and Bob Vylan have been recorded as a “public order incident” and further investigations are ongoing.

Pascal Robinson-Foster, of the punk-rap duo Bob Vylan, led chants of “Death, death to the IDF”, the Israel Defence Forces, which was followed by the Irish rap trio Kneecap performance that included more discriminatory language during their performance that included leading the crowd in chants of “fuck Keir Starmer”.

The BBC spoke out in the wake of controversy of allowing the performances to go out live, acknowledging that these performances were “utterly unacceptable”, but fell short of an actual apology, stating it had warned viewers on screen with a statement “very strong and discriminatory language” at the time.

But with the backlash against the BBC continuing throughout Monday, they accepted that they should never have allowed the comments to be broadcast and would look to update its guidance around live events, again stopping short of giving an actual apology, saying: “The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves.

“The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.”

Pressure from the Culture Secretary who said there is: “a problem of leadership” at the BBC, criticising the corporation, as well as words frm the PM and Ofcom, all questioning the Director General over the weekend about what due diligence had been done in advance of the broadcast.

The US have now revoked visas for the band Bob Vylan, who were due to tour the States later this year, with the Deputy Secretary of State issuing a statement, saying: “Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country”.

The band have also it seems, been dropped by their talent agency UTA and their page was no longer active on the agency’s website.

Robinson-Foster on Sunday took to Instagram stating his phone had been “buzzing non-stop, inundated with messages of both support and hatred”.

He said: “Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place. As we grow older and our fire starts to possibly dim under the suffocation of adult life and all its responsibilities, it is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us.”

Kneecap, also took to social media, highlighting the situation in Gaza.

Ofcom in a statement, said that the BBC “clearly has questions to answer” after live-streaming the Bob Vylan footage. “We have been speaking to the BBC over the weekend and we are obtaining further information as a matter of urgency, including what procedures were in place to ensure compliance with its own editorial guidelines”.

Glastonbury festival organisers also put out publicly, condemning the chants started by Bob Vylan, saying organisers were “appalled by the statements”, but it has to be said, they knw exactly what they were going to be getting, by booking Kneecap and Bob Vylan, they knew that Kneecap were already under investigation by the police, they knew their political beliefs and statements they would expect on stage, they knew who they were getting in bed with! Glastonbury Music Festival organisers knew they were inviting antisemitism and hate speech.

Time for Glastonbury to close its gates and dismantle its stage for the last time. RIP to the original message of Glastonbury.