Wes Streeting has said the BBC and Glastonbury 鈥渉ave questions to answer鈥 after punk duo Bob Vylan led the crowd at the festival in chants of 鈥渄eath to the IDF (Israel Defence Force)鈥.
The health secretary said the chants were 鈥渁ppalling鈥 and said the corporation must explain how they were streamed live on iPlayer.
Avon and Somerset Police have launched an investigation into the performances of Bob Vylan, and Irish rappers Kneecap, to see 鈥渨hether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation鈥.
Asked for his views on Sky News this morning, Streeting said: 鈥淚 thought it was appalling to be honest and I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer on how we saw such a spectacle on our screens.
鈥淚 also think it was a pretty shameless publicity stunt that I don鈥檛 want to give too much indulgence to for that reason.
鈥淲hat we should be talking about this week in the context of Israel and Gaza is the fact that Israeli settler terrorists attacks a Christian village this week, setting it on fire. The fact that I met the Red Cross and Red Crescent this week talking about humanitarian catastrophe today, but the risk of the spread of disease in the summer and famine in the autumn.
鈥淎nd indeed 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.
鈥淪o I just say that whether it鈥檚 a Palestinian or an Israeli, whether it鈥檚 a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim, all life is precious, all life is sacred, and I find it pretty revolting we鈥檝e got to a stage in this conflict where you鈥檙e supposed to cheer on one side or the other like it鈥檚 a football team.鈥
A spokesperson for the BBC said: 鈥淪ome of the comments made during Bob Vylan鈥檚 set were deeply offensive.
鈥淒uring 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.
鈥淲e have no plans to make the performance available on demand.鈥