By David Mouriquand
This year鈥檚 Glastonbury, Britain’s biggest summer music festival which draws some 200,000 music fans each year to Worthy Farm in southwest England, has come to an end. And it鈥檚 been one of the most controversial editions in recent memory. Controversial Belfast rappers Kneecap and their weekend slot made headlines in the lead-up to the festival, after several MPs, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, called on Glastonbury to pull the band from the line-up, due to their defiant pro-Palestinian remarks and band member Mo Chara being charged with a terror offence. Still, the band played and were supported by Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis, who said that 鈥渆veryone is welcome.鈥 Her father, festival founder Michael Eavis, added: 鈥淧eople that don鈥檛 agree with the politics of the event can go somewhere else!鈥 Still, controversy was inevitable… Kneecap cause a ruckus As predicted, Kneecap delivered an incendiary set at Glastonbury, on the West Holts stage, to a huge crowd waving countless Palestinian flags. The BBC, the festival鈥檚 broadcaster partner, said in a statement just hours before the band took to the stage that their set wouldn鈥檛 be streamed live and would instead be made available as an on-demand version after the end of the gig. Previously, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said she thought the BBC “should not be showing” Kneecap’s performance at the festival: “The BBC should not be showing Kneecap propaganda. One Kneecap band member is currently on bail, charged under the Terrorism Act. As a publicly funded platform, the BBC should not be rewarding extremism. The trio, DJ Pr贸va铆, Mo Chara and M贸gla铆 Bap, came on stage with screens showing their usual message: 鈥淚srael is committing genocide against the Palestinian people, aided by the UK government. Free Palestine.鈥 This message was galvanized during the set when the band said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no f*cking hiding it, Israel are war criminals.鈥 鈥淕lastonbury, I鈥檓 a free man,鈥 also declared Chara, referring to being given unconditional bail from his appearance on his terror charge.鈥淢o Chara was in court this month,鈥 said Bap. 鈥淲as anyone there? Mo Chara鈥檚 in court for a trumped up terrorism charge. It鈥檚 not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system鈥. Chara then mentioned Keir Starmer 鈥 who argued that it was 鈥渘ot appropriate鈥 for the band to be playing at Glastonbury: 鈥淭he Prime Minister of your country said he didn鈥檛 want us to play, so f*ck Keir Starmer.鈥 They echoed this sentiment when introducing their fan favourite song 鈥楪et Your Brits Out鈥, with Chara telling the crowd: 鈥淲e f*cking love the English people, it鈥檚 the English government we can鈥檛 stand. F*ck Keir Starmer.鈥 The band ended their set by thanking Glastonbury festival for their support of the band and for Palestine, with Bap stating: 鈥淥ne day it will be controversial for the people that didn鈥檛 speak about Palestine,鈥 with Chara agreeing: 鈥淩emember those c*nts, we will remember them.鈥 However, their set was not the only controversial moment of this year鈥檚 highly politicised edition… In fact, their lightning may have been stolen by an earlier act. Bob Vylan: Controversy before Kneecap鈥檚 set Before the Kneecap set, rap-punk duo Bob Vylan also caused controversy by leading the crowd in chants of: “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces).” The BBC said it issued a warning on screen about 鈥渧ery strong and discriminatory language鈥 during the live stream. Still, that wasn鈥檛 the end of it. The Israeli Embassy to the UK said on social media that it was 鈥渄eeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival,” while the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it will be formally complaining to the BBC over its “outrageous decision” to broadcast the performance. In a statement, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.” The Prime Minister also reiterated his previous argument that Kneecap should have been removed from the line-up: “I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.” Even Emily Eavis posted a response to Bob Vylan’s performance. “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,” she wrote. She added that while “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”, adding a performer’s comments “should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs”. Eavis added: “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.” British Police said that they were assessing footage of the performance to decide whether any offences may have been committed. Who are Bob Vylan? Bob Vylan are a punk-rap duo known for their politically charged lyrics which tackle racism, homophobia, police brutality and far-right politics. The two members keep their real names secret and are known as Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan.Formed in Ipswich in 2017, the band has released five albums 鈥 ‘Vylan’ (2017), ‘Dread’ (2019), ‘We Live Here’ (2020), ‘Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life’ (2022), and last year’s ‘Humble As The Sun’. They have won several awards, including Best Alternative Act at the MOBOs in 2022. Like Kneecap, the duo has been outspoken on the war in Gaza. A UN report has found that Israel鈥檚 military actions are consistent with genocide, and at least 56,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel has continually denied that their actions in Palestine can be equated to genocide and argued that it has not partaken in any war crimes.