Lisa Nandy said chanting at the Glastonbury Festival was ‘appalling and unacceptable’ and Lib Dem Max Wilkinson branded rapper Bobby Vylan a ‘shock-jock attention-seeking musician’
Lisa Nandy issues statement on Glastonbury and BBC coverage
The BBC should have forseen problems ahead of Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set, a furious Cabinet member told MPs.
Lisa Nandy said the corporation must explain why it did not immediately stop broadcasting when a chant of “death to the IDF” started. The Culture Secretary said she had demanded to know what due dilligence was carried out on the artist before it happened.
Ms Nandy told the Commons that Jewish people at the festival had created their own “safe space” after being left fearful by imagery and slogans. She branded the scenes “appalling and unacceptable”.
She said she had met BBC director general Tim Davie, adding: “I expect answers to these questions without delay. I have made that view clear to the BBC leadership and I will of course update the House as soon as I can.”
The performance and broadcast – which have resulted in a police investigation – were condemned across the Commons. Lib Dem MP Max Wilkinson branded rapper Bobby Vylan – real name Pascal Robinson-Foster – a “shock-jock attention-seeking musician”.
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He added: “A cursory look through the social media of Bob Vylan raises the question of how this was not forseen.”
Ms Nandy said the BBC’s supporters were “more angry than anybody” about the weekend’s events. She said: “I’m not sure that you need an inquiry to establish that it should have been foreseeable that there would be problems with broadcasts this weekend, that the decision to broadcast live without any delay should have been reviewed, and that a live feed should have been pulled immediately when the chants ‘death, death to the IDF’ began.”
The Labour frontbencher said she had told Mr Davie she is not satisfied with the answers she has been given so far. It comes as Avon and Somerset Police said a criminal investigation is underway following performances by Bob Vylan and Irish rap trio Kneecap.
And the United States Government also announced that Bobby Vylan have been banned from the US. The duo were set to perform shows in Chicago, Brooklyn and Philadelphia in the autumn.
The BBC has expressed its regret at not pulling the live stream of Bob Vylan’s performance, saying the “antisemitic sentiments” expressed were “utterly unacceptable”.
Shadow Culture Secretary Stuart Andrew claimed the BBC “has repeatedly failed to call out antisemitic rhetoric” – and went on to criticise its decision to show a pre-recorded performance by Irish rap group Kneecap.
The Tory MP said: “The BBC’s decision to also broadcast material from Kneecap, a group whose members have openly called for members of Parliament to be killed, is as indefensible as it is shocking.”
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