Criminal investigation launched into Kneecap and Bob Vylan's Glastonbury sets

Police have launched a criminal investigation after they reviewed footage of Bob Vylan and Kneecap's sets at Glastonbury. Both bands have faced strong backlash for their comments on stage at the festival, which included chants of "Death to the IDF" from Bob Vylan and "F*** Keir Starmer " from Kneecap.

Avon and Somerset Police said in an update: "Video footage and audio from Bob Vylan and Kneecap's performances at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday has been reviewed.

"Following the completion of that assessment process we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken. A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation.

"This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage. The investigation will be evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes."

They added: "We have received a large amount of contact in relation to these events from people across the world and recognise the strength of public feeling. There is absolutely no place in society for hate.

"Neighbourhood policing teams are speaking with people in their local communities and key stakeholders to make sure anyone who needs us knows that we are here for them.

"We hope the work we have carried out, and are continuing to carry out, reassures the public how seriously we are treating Saturday's events. We politely ask the public refrain from continuing to report this matter to us because an investigation is already taking place."

Over the weekend, police announced they were looking into footage from the West Holts stage following both Kneecap and Bob Vylan's performances.

Today, the BBC issued a statement to say they should have cut the livestream to Bob Vylan's set. The set was uploaded to iPlayer and remained on the site for more than five hours before it was removed by the BBC. They chose not to air Kneecap's set live, but was later uploaded.

The BBC said in a statement: "Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our live streams included comments that were deeply offensive.

"The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance. The performance was part of a live stream of the West Holts stage on BBC iPlayer."

They added: "The judgement on Saturday to issue a warning on screen while streaming online was in line with our editorial guidelines. In addition, we took the decision not to make the performance available on demand. The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen. In light of this weekend, we will look at our guidance around live events so we can be sure teams are clear on when it is acceptable to keep output on air."

Last night, singer Bobby Vylan took to Instagram to defiantly say: "I said what I said," alongside a statement where he wrote about the state of school dinners and teaching our children to "speak up for the change they want".

Glastonbury boss Emily Eavis said over the weekend: "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."

Downing Street also issued a statement following the performance as they said it was "right" for the BBC to express regret at airing the set.

A Number 10 spokesman said: “We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury. The Prime Minister has been clear that any performers making threats or inciting violence should not be given a platform.”

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