BBC complaints hit four-year high for Bob Vylan's 'death to IDF' chant
It is the first time that the BBC has received more than 1000 complaints about a single issue since June 2024, when a total of 1351 people alleged that the Question Time Leaders' Special had been biased against Nigel Farage.
The last time the number of complaints topped 2000 was October 2022, when a BBC News special on Rishi Sunak, entitled 'Our New Prime Minister', was said to have been biased in favour of the Conservatives and their approach to public spending.
READ MORE: 111 BBC journalists demand change as Israel reporting 'crippled'
The 3396 complaints about Bob Vylan's performance is the most the BBC has received for any single issue since March 2021, when 6498 people complained about hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty mocking then-Tory minister Robert Jenrick about the size of the Union flag in his office.
The controversy around the 'death to the IDF' chant has led the BBC to say that it will no longer broadcast performances deemed 'high risk'.
A statement from the broadcaster said: 'We deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to apologise to our viewers and listeners and in particular the Jewish community. We are also unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at, or on, the BBC.
'It is clear that errors were made both in the lead-up to and during Bob Vylan's appearance. We think it's important to set out some of the detail around the streaming of this performance.
Bob Vylan performing at Glastonbury 2025 (Image: Oli Scarff, AFP via Getty Images) 'Bob Vylan were deemed high risk following a risk assessment process applied to all acts appearing at Glastonbury. Seven acts including Bob Vylan were included in this category and they were all deemed suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations.
'Prior to Glastonbury, a decision was taken that compliance risks could be mitigated in real time on the live stream – through the use of language or content warnings – without the need for a delay. This was clearly not the case.'
BBC director-general Tim Davie has also issued a personal apology, asking people to treat each other with 'respect and kindness'.
Since the performance, Avon and Somerset Police have launched an investigation into the comments made during the group's West Holts Stage set.
It has emerged that the group were already under investigation by police for comments made at a concert one month before Glastonbury.
READ MORE: Essential repairs begin on historic 600-year-old castle on Scottish island
Video footage appears to show frontman Bobby Vylan at Alexandra Palace telling crowds: 'Death to every single IDF soldier out there as an agent of terror for Israel. Death to the IDF.'
The rap group issued a statement on Tuesday claiming they were being 'targeted for speaking up'.
The group have also had their US visas revoked, ahead of their tour later this year, were pulled from their Saturday headline slot at Radar festival in Manchester and from an upcoming performance at a German music venue.
Elsewhere, the BBC complaints report on Thursday noted that 428 people had complained after newsreader Martine Croxall said the word 'women' after 'pregnant people'.
The complainants felt Croxall had been 'transphobic', the BBC report said.
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Scottish Sun
37 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
How ‘Mr Doodle' artist went from earning millions to being sectioned in psychiatric ward & thinking mum was Nigel Farage
Read on to learn more TO DOODLE OR NOT TO DOODLE OR NOT How 'Mr Doodle' artist went from earning millions to being sectioned in psychiatric ward & thinking mum was Nigel Farage Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) FOR most people, doodling is a harmless distraction. But for Sam Cox it became a dangerous obsession that led him to believe Donald Trump wished he'd graffiti his 'big, beautiful wall.' Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Sam Cox, in a bath with wife Alena, has recovered from his ordeal Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 Sam outside his doodle mansion Credit: Alamy The Kent artist became a worldwide sensation in 2017 when a video of him using a marker pen to draw over a shop gained 46 million views in a week on social media. Soon Sam's doodles were selling for a million dollars and big name brands such as Adidas and Samsung commissioned him. That provided the funds to buy a £1.35million mansion, which the 31-year-old compulsive creator wanted to draw all over. Working for 36 hours without sleep, though, sparked a major mental health breakdown in which he believed he was his alter ego Mr Doodle. Sam thought his mum was Nigel Farage and that US President Trump asked him to doodle all over the planned 2,000 mile wall between Mexico and the USA. A new documentary on Channel 4 reveals how he had to be held down by six burly nurses after being sectioned in late February 2020. His delusions included fearing the doctors were trying to poison him and that his parents were trying to kill him. Sam, who has now recovered, tells The Sun: 'I think in black and white. 'I felt I had to be the character. 'It was becoming more 100 percent or nothing. Artist at war with council over plan to build seaside home laser cut with DOODLES in 'Britain's only desert' 'When I was sectioned it was really frightening. 'In my mind it was like being in the Truman Show. 'I thought everyone was conspiring against me. 'I felt like I was in a game. 'You think health professionals and even family and friends are trying to hurt you. 'Donald Trump or other celebrities took the place of other patients in the hospital for me. 'I remember thinking my mum was like Nigel Farage.' Thankfully, after six weeks in hospital he was able to return home and is now fully recovered. The documentary titled The Trouble With Mr Doodle, which airs on Wednesday, allows Sam to figure out how he got into such an altered state. His parents Andrea and Neill knew early on that Sam was different to other children. Growing up in picturesque Tenterden, Kent, he showed no interest in outdoor pursuits. Instead, Sam just wanted to draw all day long, even doing so under his bed covers when he was supposed to be asleep. 6 Sam's uncle painted the walls white ready for doodling Credit: ABACUS 6 Even the toilet is covered in graffiti Credit: ABACUS Andrea says in the documentary: 'You don't want to think there is anything wrong with your child. 'It did cross my mind that there might be something different about him.' It was while studying illustration at the University of the West of England, Bristol, that his distinctive style started to develop. One day he turned up to class in a white suit and fedora hat with black marker pen scribblings all over them and his lecturer nicknamed him the 'Doodle Man.' But getting other people enthused about his art was not so easy. Dressed as Mr Doodle he found few customers willing to buy his A4 sized individual sketches for one pound each. Gradually, though, he started to earn money by having his creations on clothes and buildings. It was a video of his doodling on a pop up shop in Old Street in east London in 2017 that skyrocketed his reputation. Images of his work also attracted the attention of Ukrainian artist Alena and they started chatting online. Sam, whose mum thought he was so obsessed with his art that he'd never get married, kissed his love interest as soon as they met up for the first time in Berlin, Germany. He recalls: 'It was one of the first times I wasn't really drawing and it felt like a good experience.' It was the purchase of a 12-room house near his childhood home in December 2019 with the sole aim of doodling all over the Georgian style property that was to push Sam beyond his limits. 6 Sam's son Alfie scribbles on the windows Credit: Instagram/babydoodle2023 6 Sam thought Trump asked him to doodle all over the planned 2,000 mile wall between Mexico and the USA Credit: Getty With a builder uncle having painted and tiled the whole house white, Sam quickly started to feel mentally unwell as he started drawing on it in February 2020. This was the time that Covid 19 was sweeping across much of the world and having travelled extensively to the Far East, Sam did wonder if it was connected. He smiles: 'It was so weird. 'Covid hadn't really reached the UK entirely then and I had spoken about my work a lot as a Doodle virus. 'When it reached the UK was when I went into hospital.' Suddenly, everything spiraled out of control. It was clear that this was something other than a virus. Hallucinations and panic attacks put him in fear for his life. When his dad Neill turned up, Sam told him 'I love you but you are trying to kill me.' When I was sectioned it was really frightening. I thought everyone was conspiring against me...I remember thinking my mum was like Nigel Farage Sam Cox Sam also told Alena that he didn't love her and loved someone else, which wasn't true. A psychiatrist told the family that Sam had to be sectioned for his own safety. But he only pretended to take his medication once on the secure ward, so half a dozen nurses had to hold him down while it was injected. Sam says: 'Your mind goes into a dream or nightmare state and your mind can't grasp what reality is until you've recovered from it. 'I couldn't even watch television without thinking it was talking to me.' Sam spent six weeks on a psychiatric ward in Canterbury, Kent, being treated for psychosis. Understandably, his parents didn't want Sam to return to his Doodle house once he had left the hospital. His mum says: 'I hated that character he created. 'I just wanted him to go away.' Sam also considered killing off Mr Doodle, but then decided this character had brought him some of the best things in his life such as Alena who he married after recovering from his illness. He has found a safer half way approach allowing time for both Sam and Mr Doodle. Sam explains: 'I realised there was room for grey areas and for colour in my life. 'It doesn't have to be so extreme.' On September 18 2020 he began drawing on the mansion again and completed the project 743 days later on October 1 2022. We love the house. It has never triggered anything since what happened. I live there with my wife and my son and our dog. It doesn't make us dizzy like people think Sam Cox His home gives a whole new meaning to drawing the curtains, because not only are the drapes covered in doodles, so are the bedsheets, the towels and everything else you can think of. That includes the toaster, the toilet, 2,000 bathroom tiles, the window panes and his Tesla car. Most people can't believe that Sam actually lives in such a visually stimulating environment, but he insists that he loves it. Sam says: 'We love the house. 'It has never triggered anything since what happened. 'I live there with my wife and my son and our dog. 'It doesn't make us dizzy or give us headaches like people think. 'It is busy but it doesn't feel like that when you are there.' The problem is that his two year-old son Alfie has started to colour in the walls. Sam says: 'He draws on the characters and I don't have the heart to tell him not to because I feel it is too ironic to tell him not to draw everywhere. 'The difficult thing is when we take him to restaurants and they give him crayons and he doesn't realise they want it to just be on the colouring in sheet.' His next major project is in Dungeness on the Kent coast, where he has received planning permission to construct a Doodle house. There are other ideas in the pipeline and he says: 'It's always about making it bigger or more walls and things. 'I love kind of big, endurance-based doodle activities like making a really big doodle.' But with Sam insisting on drawing everything himself, rather than roping in assistants like some artists do, it will all take years to complete. There has been snobbery in the art world about Mr Doodle, whose work is yet to be shown in a famous gallery. The always polite Sam says: 'It would be amazing to be exhibited in the Tate, but the thing for me is that someone who never goes into a museum and sees my art on the way to work is equal to someone who goes to a gallery.' It is remarkable to think that Sam ever had a dark moment, considering how upbeat he is during our interview. This is an artist whose intention is to make the world smile. He concludes: 'There is no hidden message. It is what you see, it is happy faces and doodles. 'I proudly say how my art doesn't have a social message. 'I like it when people smile about it.'
Times
37 minutes ago
- Times
After a terrible anniversary week, is Keir Starmer finished?
At the Spectator summer party, one of the biggest events of Westminster's social calendar, much of the conversation centred around one man — Nigel Farage. The Reform UK leader and his allies adjourned to a private terrace overlooking the Spectator garden and private security cordoned off the stairs. There they sipped Dom Perignon while cabinet ministers and senior Tories including Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick circled the garden below. When the news broke that Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, was planning to found a new party there were cheers from the Reform terrace. A new Corbyn-led hard left party meant yet more pain for Starmer — and a bad end to a truly terrible anniversary week for the prime minister. Senior Tories were disparaging about Farage and his coterie of supporters. 'They're so cocky,' said one shadow cabinet minister. Labour ministers said Farage offered 'no answers'. But both parties were alive to the threat posed by the man standing a few yards from them. At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday Starmer expressed his pride in his government's achievements after a year in power, listing off what he views as the successes. Free school meals, increasing defence spending to 2.6 per cent of GDP, trade deals with the US, the EU and India. The list went on. But within a few hours he was forced to make an extraordinary retreat in the face of a mass rebellion by Labour MPs over the government's welfare reforms, leaving a £5 billion hole in the exchequer. Then it got worse. On Wednesday Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, broke down in tears at the dispatch box, prompting a frenzy in the bond markets. As the dust settles this weekend, some cabinet ministers are asking the question: is it terminal? Will Starmer, who secured a landslide majority at the last election, lead Labour into the next election? 'It feels like it's done,' said one. Certainly the polling is bleak — and far worse than that for any party in recent political history that won a landslide just twelve months before. Research by YouGov for The Times this week found that just one in five voters (21 per cent) think that Labour has done well in office so far and less than a third think they are any better than the previous Conservative government. Across a range of issues the party's voters are deeply dissatisfied with the government's performance. On the cost of living, 62 per cent of those who backed Labour at the election say the government is doing badly, while 46 per cent are unhappy with the government's handling of the NHS. On Starmer himself: 69 per cent of voters think he's weak, 65 per cent say he doesn't care about people like them and 49 per cent say he's dishonest. Anthony Wells, head of European political research at YouGov, said: 'Labour's problem is that despite their landslide victory last year there was never any great enthusiasm for them in the first place — people were voting against the Tories. So as they have made some unpopular decisions they have not had any goodwill in the bank to fall back on.' Yet concerns about whether Starmer can survive need a reality check — Labour does not have the same appetite for regicide as the Tories or the same mechanisms for removing a leader. Even his most ardent critics concede that there there is no obvious successor who is capable of uniting Starmer's fragmenting electoral coalition. Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, appeals to those on the left of the party but there are questions about whether she could command broader support. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has the same problem the other way — he can appeal to those in the centre but has more limited appeal to those on the left. The YouGov polling also shows that all the plausible Labour alternatives, including Rayner and Streeting, are seen as more likely to be worse than Starmer. The speculation about Starmer's future stems in part from the knowledge that things are likely to get much worse. As difficult as the first year has been, the challenges of the second will eclipse them — the biggest of which will be the budget. At the cabinet on Tuesday, before the week's calamitous events, Reeves sounded a warning to ministers. At that stage the government had only made a partial about turn on welfare, protecting all existing claimants at a cost of £2.5 billion. Reeves said the compromise came at a cost, and that money would need to be raised. She said the last budget, painful as it was with £40 billion worth of tax rises, represented the 'low-hanging fruit'. The next budget would be more challenging. The tax rises are likely to be big. The cost of the change in direction on welfare and winter fuel payments came to around £6 billion, but economists are much more concerned about the anaemic levels of economic growth and a potential downgrade in forecasts. Some put the figure that needs to be raised as high as £30 billion, which would require huge tax rises. Cabinet ministers privately acknowledge that the benefits U-turn means all options for raising tax are now on the table. That includes potentially breaking the manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, although ministers are loath to do so. A tax raid on pension savings is also being considered. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said it would be very hard for Labour to find the money necessary without touching those 'big three' taxes. 'I don't really think there is [a way of doing it],' he said. 'We don't really know what kind of levels of money the chancellor will need to find but if we are looking at £30 billion, which is quite plausible, I can't see a way in which she raises that kind of money without hitting people on middle incomes as they did with the national insurance increase.' One minister said that while they would prefer spending restraint over tax rises, they appear to be unavoidable. They said that all options would need to be considered. The Times has been told that the government will not reopen the spending review despite the scale of the gap in the public minister was philosophical. The reality was that on many occasions the government had to choose between 'bad choices or very bad choices'. That, at times, government is effectively a Sophie's choice, with no good options on the table.
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Lewis Capaldi and Lorde top UK charts after Glastonbury performances
Alternative pop star Lorde's new record Virgin reached number one on the album chart after she performed all 11 tracks at a secret set at the Woodsies stage on Saturday. Scottish singer Capaldi also made an emotional return to the Somerset festival last weekend, performing his new song Survive which has since gone to number one on the singles chart. Capaldi performed a 35-minute set at the Pyramid stage, two years after struggling to manage his Tourette syndrome symptoms while singing on the same stage. Speaking to Official Charts, Capaldi thanked fans who had streamed and downloaded Survive, saying it 'really means the world'. 'I've been away for a little while, and to come back to this outpouring of love and support has been absolutely incredible. 'I can't thank everybody enough for all the kind words since Glastonbury – and now this. 'It's been the best week of my life,' he said. Speaking to the festival crowd on Saturday, he said: 'It's so good to be back. I'm not going to say much up here today, because if I do, I think I will probably start crying. 'But it's just amazing to be here with you all, and I can't thank you all enough for coming out and coming and seeing me. 'Second time's a charm on this one, everybody. 'It's just a short set today, but I just wanted to come and kind of finish what I couldn't finish the first time round.' Introducing Survive at the festival, Capaldi became visibly emotional as he said: 'The last two years haven't been the best for me, it's been difficult at times. 'This has been my f****** goal, to get back here,' he added. He ended his performance with Somebody You Loved, the track that Glastonbury crowds helped him to sing when he struggled with his Tourette symptoms in 2023. The condition causes you to make sudden, repetitive sounds or movements and while there is no cure, treatment can help manage the tics, according to the NHS website. Virgin is Lorde's fourth studio album, and her previous three, Pure Heroine (2013), Melodrama (2017) and Solar Power (2021) all reached the top 10 of the UK albums chart. Lorde, 28, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor, took to the Woodsies stage at Glastonbury on Saturday to perform the album in full to the packed tent and a crowd gathered outside. The New Zealand-born singer pulled her top off to finish with a double hit of Ribs from her debut album Pure Heroine, which she said was first played at Glastonbury in 2017, and Melodrama's Green Light, during which the lasers turned from blue to green. The final song prompted a football terrace-style singalong that almost drowned out Lorde herself. She is best known for songs such as Homemade Dynamite, Solar Power and her second single Royals, which reached number one in the UK singles chart.
