Suella Braverman, the former Home Secretary, accused the BBC of “shamefully” failing to deal with antisemitism as she renewed her call for BBC boss Tim Davie to stand down. This follows outrage at the broadcast of “death to the IDF” chants led by rapper Bobby Vylan at the Glastonbury Festival.
Mrs Braverman accused the BBC of failing to deal with antisemitism and said Mr Davie “needs to go”. Her comments come as it is confirmed the Bob Vylan punk rap duo at the centre of the controversy will no longer headline the Saturday slot at Manchester’s Radar festival. Police have launched an investigation into the events at Glastonbury which featured singer Bobby Vylan leading the crowd in chants of “death, death to the IDF”.
The set was live-streamed by the BBC. The broadcaster has apologised but there are calls for director-general Mr Davie – who visited the festival on Saturday – to step down.
Mrs Braverman said: “The BBC has shamefully failed to deal with antisemitism. Too many incidents, too many half-hearted apologies. There is a cultural and institutional problem at the BBC. The director-general has lost the confidence of the taxpayer and needs to go.”
Alan Mendoza, co-founder of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, said: “The problem for Tim Davie is the cumulative loss of public confidence in the BBC during his watch. It is death by a thousand cuts rather than one big bang event, but the effect is the same.
“Without a change of leadership and a willingness to accept fundamental change in how it behaves, it is difficult to see how the BBC can save itself from its inevitable defenestration as a national institution funded by the taxpayer.”
The BBC has defended Mr Davie’s actions, saying: “The director-general was informed of the incident after the performance and at that point he was clear it should not feature in any other Glastonbury coverage.”
Bob Vylan responded to the announcement they will not headline the Manchester festival by stating: “Silence is not an option. We will be fine, the people of Palestine are hurting. Manchester we will be back.”
The group has also been banned from entering the United States for a tour. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau revoked the duo’s visas for their “hateful tirade at Glastonbury”.
Bobby Vylan is reportedly the stage name of Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34. His bandmate drummer uses the alias Bobbie Vylan.