Kneecap lead Glastonbury crowd in chants against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
The group, who hail from Belfast, have been in the headlines after member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence.
In the run-up to the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, several politicians called for Kneecap to be removed from the line-up and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said their performance would not be 'appropriate'.
Member Naoise O Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, said: 'The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn't want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.'
He also said a 'big thank you to the Eavis family' and said 'they stood strong' amid calls for the organisers to drop them from the line-up.
The band also led crowds in chants of 'Free Palestine', with Mo Chara commenting on the sheer number of flags at the festival.
O hAnnaidh, 27, wore a keffiyeh during the set, while member JJ O Dochartaigh, who performs under the name DJ Provai, wore his signature tri-coloured balaclava as well as a T-shirt that said: 'We are all Palestine Action' in reference to the soon-to-be banned campaign group.
News broadcasts criticising the hip hop trio played from the sound system before they walked onto the stage were booed by the Glastonbury Festival audience.
The trio opened with the song Better Way To Live from their 2024 album Fine Art and also performed tracks including Get Your Brits Out and Hood.
Access to the area around the West Holts Stage was closed around 45 minutes before their performance after groups of fans arrived to form a sea of Irish and Palestinian flags.
Rap punk duo Bob Vylan performed on the stage before Kneecap and led the crowd in chants of 'Free, free Palestine' and 'Death, death to the IDF'.
Earlier on Saturday, the BBC confirmed they would not be live-streaming the set but said the performance is likely to be made available on-demand later.
It is understood the BBC needs to consider the performance before making a final decision.
The band said on Instagram: 'The propaganda wing of the regime has just contacted us….
'They WILL put our set from Glastonbury today on the iPlayer later this evening for your viewing pleasure.'
During their set Mo Chara said: 'The BBC editor is going to have some job.'
O hAnnaidh was charged with allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah, while saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at a gig in November last year.
On June 18, the rapper was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates O Caireallain and O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in Free Mo Chara T-shirts.
He was released on unconditional bail until the next hearing at the same court on August 20.
Ahead of the group's performance, Gemma Gibson, 41, from Newcastle, told the PA news agency that she was 'really excited' to see Kneecap perform.
Asked if their set should have been cancelled amid the ongoing controversy, she said: 'Well, that would be completely against everything that Glastonbury stands for… This is where they should be.'
Alternative metal band Deftones were due to play on Saturday night but their slot has now been filled by rapper Skepta.
A social media post from Glastonbury Festival said: 'Deftones have been forced to cancel tonight's 8.30pm Other Stage performance due to illness in the band.
'Skepta will kindly step-in, taking the stage at 9pm.
'He says: 'Let's go!!! No crew, no production but am ready to shut Glastonbury down. Victory lap time. Pre-Big Smoke 2025!''
Deftones have been forced to cancel tonight's 8.30pm Other Stage performance due to illness in the band.
Skepta will kindly step-in, taking the stage at 9pm.
He says: 'Let's go!!! No crew, no production but am ready to shut Glastonbury down. Victory lap time. Pre-Big Smoke…
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) June 28, 2025
Also playing on Saturday afternoon were Leeds rock band Kaiser Chiefs and US star Brandi Carlile, who released an album with Sir Elton John earlier in the year.
Irish singer CMAT, who played the Pyramid Stage on Friday, performed a secret set at the BBC Introducing stage on Saturday.
Neil Young, best known for songs such as Rockin' In The Free World, Like A Hurricane and Cinnamon Girl, will headline the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night with his band the Chrome Hearts.
The BBC will broadcast Young's set after previously saying it would not be shown 'at the artist's request'.
Another act expected to draw a big crowd is Brat star Charli XCX, who will headline the Other Stage around the same time Young and Grammy Award-winning rapper Doechii will also perform.
Celebrities who have been spotted at the festival include singer Harry Styles, Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne, The Crown actor Emma Corrin, and Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn.
Performing in the coveted Sunday legends slot this year is Sir Rod Stewart, who previously said he will be joined by his former Faces band member Ronnie Wood, as well as other guests.
The BBC is providing livestreams of the five main stages: Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and The Park.
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North Wales Chronicle
13 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Glastonbury says chants by Bob Vylan ‘crossed the line' as police assess footage
The performer Bobby Vylan led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of 'Death, death to the IDF' on Saturday, before a member of Irish rap trio Kneecap suggested fans 'start a riot' at his bandmate's forthcoming court appearance. A joint Instagram post from Glastonbury and Emily Eavis said: 'As a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism. 'We will always believe in – and actively campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love. 'With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer's presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs. 'However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. 'Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.' Health Secretary Wes Streeting said chants of 'death' to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) at Glastonbury were 'appalling' and that the BBC and festival have 'questions to answer'. As police examine videos of their comments, Mr Streeting told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: 'I thought it's appalling, to be honest, and I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens.' He said what people should be talking about in the context of Israel and Gaza is the humanitarian catastrophe and the fact that Israeli settlers attacked a Christian village this week. He added: 'The fact that we saw that chant at a music festival, when there were Israelis at a similar music festival who were kidnapped, murdered, raped, and in some cases still held captive, whether it's a Palestinian or an Israeli, whether it's a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim, all life is precious. 'All life is sacred. And I find it pretty revolting we've got to a state in this conflict where you're supposed to sort of cheer on one side or the other like it's a football team.' Asked if the BBC should have cut the live feed, he said the broadcaster has questions to answer, but that he did not know what the editorial and operational 'challenges' are of taking such action. Avon and Somerset Police said video evidence would be assessed by officers 'to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation'. On social media, the Israeli Embassy said it was 'deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival'. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes 'grotesque', writing on X: 'Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked.' The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it would be formally complaining to the BBC over its 'outrageous decision' to broadcast Bob Vylan. A spokesperson said: 'Our national broadcaster must apologise for its dissemination of this extremist vitriol, and those responsible must be removed from their positions.' A BBC spokesperson added: 'Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive. 'During this live stream 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.' Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general about Bob Vylan's performance, a Government spokesperson said. Bob Vylan, who formed in Ipswich in 2017, have released four albums with their music addressing issues to do with racism, masculinity and class. Kneecap, who hail from Belfast, have been in the headlines after member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence. The group performed after Vylan's set on the West Holts Stage with O hAnnaidh exclaiming 'Glastonbury, I'm a free man' as they took to the stage. In reference to his bandmate's forthcoming court date, Naoise O Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, said they would 'start a riot outside the courts', before clarifying: 'No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine'. In the run-up to the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, several politicians called for the group to be removed from the line-up and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said their performance would not be 'appropriate'. During the performance, Caireallain said: 'The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn't want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.' He also said a 'big thank you to the Eavis family' and said 'they stood strong' amid calls for the organisers to drop them from the line-up.
Spectator
17 minutes ago
- Spectator
Glastonbury has become a sinister festival of anti-Semitism
They're chanting for the death of Jews at Glastonbury. Yesterday a swaying mob of faux-virtuous poseurs blithely howled for 'Death, death to the IDF'. They'll say they were being political. 'It was an anti-war cry, not an anti-Jew cry', they'll insist today, as the hangover lifts and the horror of their noisy clamour for the death of those they hate finally dawns on them. But such thin excuses won't wash, not this time. That's what Glastonbury felt like yesterday: a woke Nuremberg rally It was the punk rap act Bob Vylan that appeared to whip the crowd into a frenzy of Israelophobia. The lead singer first got them chanting 'Free, free Palestine', the mandatory holler of every bourgeois youth who's determined to prove his virtue to his peers. Then he upped the ante. 'Death, death to the IDF', he barked, and the audience went with it. Like a Pavlovian pack, they mimicked the rocker on stage and shrieked for the violent demise of the army of the Jewish nation. Let's speak frankly – our moral crisis is too pressing for pussy-footing. 'Death to the IDF' means the death of Jews. First, because the soldiers of the IDF are predominantly Jewish. But more importantly because this is the force tasked with defending the Jewish homeland from the armies of anti-Semites that surround it. The IDF is the only thing standing between the Jewish State and its genocidal obliteration by the apocalyptic bigots on its borders. The death of the IDF would be the death of the world's only Jewish nation. Untold numbers of Jews would perish in the event of this thing dreamt of by the preening middle classes of Glastonbury. 'We didn't think of that', some will say today, as shame intrudes into the sick joy they derived from praying for the death of other human beings. Well, to borrow a slogan beloved of you people: 'Educate yourselves.' The seriousness of what happened at Glastonbury cannot be overstated. I'm struggling to think of any other recent event in the UK where a mob has called for the death of human beings. Where a crowd has agitated with macabre elation for people to die. I guess there were those small, mad gatherings of Islamists a few years ago, where some held up placards saying: 'Behead those who insult Islam.' But Glasto's roar for the death of the young Jewish men and women of the IDF felt worse. For here we had privileged youths issuing mantras of death. Here we had a festival that's meant to be about peace and love ringing out with a din-like demand for the destruction of human life. Imagine how Glasto's Jewish attendees will have felt. Or Jewish viewers at home – the BBC live-broadcasted the sick death chant. A majority of British Jews identify with the Jewish nation, and yet here were their Gentile compatriots openly fantasising about the death of that nation's youthful protectors. What a sickening sight. The question that hangs darkly over Glastonbury's death dreaming is this: why the IDF? Why not 'Death to the People's Liberaton Army', which visits such horrors on the Uyghur people? Or 'Death to the Rapid Support Forces', the psycho militia that has caused tens of thousands of deaths in Sudan over the past two years? Or, indeed, 'Death to Hamas', that reactionary, racist army that started the war in Gaza with its fascistic pogrom of 7 October 2023? A pogrom that involved mass rape and murder at a music festival not unlike Glastonbury. We all know why. It's because hating the Jewish State is all the rage among the activist classes. Singling out the Jewish nation as the most bloodthirsty nation is what passes for 'politics' on today's left. They damn this tiny country as the greatest menace to humanity, as a Nazi-like entity, as a nation so swimming in sin and blood that it deserves to be erased, 'from the river to the sea'. Tell me there isn't bigotry here. Tell me it doesn't echo the older, darker damnation of the Jews themselves as a bloodlusting people, the poison in the well of humanity. For me, that's what Glastonbury felt like yesterday: a woke Nuremberg rally. With their gleeful cry for the death of Israeli soldiers, for the destruction of the army that defends the Jewish homeland, these people sounded more like the moral heirs of Oswald Mosley than Sylvia Pankhurst. It was a like a gathering of Guardianista versions of Unity Mitford essentially saying, 'F**k the Jewish nation'. Glastonbury has apologised. The festival said it was 'appalled' by what unfolded. But there's no doubt that this felt like a turning point. The mania of Israel-hate stood exposed before the world. The true nature of the bourgeois cult of Palestinianism, with its virulent hostility not only to Israel but to the West itself, was clear for all to see. We glimpsed, briefly, the threat that the delirium of Israelophobia poses to Jewish security, to the values of our own civilisation, and to all that is decent. These people have had the stage for too long – it's time for the good among us to stand up.
Times
17 minutes ago
- Times
Glastonbury ‘appalled' at Bob Vylan's ‘death to IDF' chants
The organisers of Glastonbury Festival said they were 'appalled' after a punk act led chants of 'death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)' during a performance. In a statement the festival said the actions of Bob Vylan on Saturday 'very much crossed a line', adding there was no place for 'antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.' Rapper Bobby Vylan, of the duo Bob Vylan, led crowds on the festival's West Holts stage in chants of 'Free, free Palestine' and 'Death, death to the IDF'. • Glastonbury 2025 live: Rod Stewart and Olivia Rodrigo set to headline final day Asked about the comments during an interview on Sunday, Wes Streeting, the health minister, said the chants were 'appalling' and that the BBC and festival had 'questions to answer'. Avon and Somerset police said video evidence would be assessed by officers 'to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation'. The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it would be formally complaining to the BBC over its 'outrageous decision' to broadcast Bob Vylan. Belfast rap trio Kneecap gave a highly charged performance on Saturday that criticised Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, with expletive-laden chants. The prime minister said last week that it was 'not appropriate' for Kneecap to perform after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation, at a gig last year. He has denied the charge. Asked about the Bob Vylan performance, Streeting told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: 'I thought it's appalling, to be honest, and I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens.' He said that people should be talking about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and that Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian Christian village in the West Bank this week, but added: 'The fact that we saw that chant at a music festival, when there were Israelis at a similar music festival who were kidnapped, murdered, raped, and in some cases still held captive; whether it's a Palestinian or an Israeli, whether it's a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim, all life is precious. 'All life is sacred. And I find it pretty revolting we've got to a state in this conflict where you're supposed to sort of cheer on one side or the other like it's a football team.' Asked if the BBC should have cut the live feed, he said the broadcaster had questions to answer, but that he did not know what the editorial and operational 'challenges' were regarding taking such action. Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general about Bob Vylan's performance, a spokesperson said. On social media, the Israeli Embassy said it was 'deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival'. Ted Cruz, the Texas senator, wrote on X that the footage was 'Truly sick. Thousands of people screaming 'Death to the IDF.'' Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes 'grotesque', writing on X: 'Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked.' A spokesperson for the CAA said 'Our national broadcaster must apologise for its dissemination of this extremist vitriol, and those responsible must be removed from their positions.' Leading music promoter Harvey Goldsmith, who helped organise Live Aid, said: 'I'm proud to have dedicated my life to Britain's music industry and I'm now horrified to see it become a platform for open hate. 'The BBC must have known the views of Bob Vylan and that there was a risk they would use this the stage in the way they did. 'I can't help but suspect the BBC chose to allow this to happen given the furore over Kneecap. 'If the kind of invective they used had been directed against any other minority, World War Three would have broken out. 'What's happened is an utter disgrace for the BBC and for Glastonbury.' Lord Austin, the government's trade envoy to Israel, said: 'This disgusting chant is totally unacceptable, and could be incitement to violence. I hope Avon and Somerset police will launch an urgent investigation and if necessary, arrest the band members responsible. 'They bring shame on Glastonbury festival which ought to ensure nothing like this ever happens again. 'And the BBC also needs to take responsibility to make certain that nothing like this is ever broadcast in future.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive. 'During this live stream 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.'
