Glastonbury festival: Why BBC must make amends over Bob Vylan 'death' chants

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

It is a proverb linked to wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, but synonymous in recent times with popular culture in the form of the Spider-Man Marvel universe.

It feels wholly appropriate that it could also be directed at another pop culture phenomenon that has taken over our screens and social media feeds over the past week – Glastonbury.

The reach of the music extravaganza at Worthy Farm in Somerset has become near unprecedented.

Punk act Bob Vylan and Belfast hip-hop group Kneecap sparked controversy with their Glastonbury performances, with police confirming that they were assessing footage from the sets.

Thanks to the BBC’s wall-to-wall digital coverage, Glastonbury, which this year has featured acts ranging from the current Olivia Rodrigo to veteran rockers Rod Stewart and Neil Young, is no longer an event you need to be at to experience.

In 2023, Glastonbury content was streamed a record 50.3 million times across BBC iPlayer and to BBC Sounds. It is a massive virtual platform – which is why the BBC should rightly face criticism for the scenes aired on Saturday.

On the festival’s West Holts Stage, English punk act Bobby Vylan led crowds in chants of “death, death to the IDF”.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting yesterday described the chants as “appalling” and stressed the BBC and festival had “questions to answer”. He said people should instead be talking about the humanitarian catastrophe in Israel and Gaza. “All life is sacred,” he said.

The BBC said a warning was issued on screen during Vylan’s set about the “very strong and discriminatory language”. The broadcaster has confirmed it has no plans to make the performance available on demand.

Glastonbury festival organisers also said in a statement the chants during Vylan’s set had “crossed the line”.

However, both the BBC and those behind Glastonbury must go further and embrace their ‘responsibility’ by reviewing their plans for and responses to a similar spectacle in future.

Cutting or switching live feeds of acts must be an option on the cards when warranted.