Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury comments ‘wholly unprofessional and pathetic’ – antisemitism adviser

We’re joined by Lord Mann, who is the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism.

Cathy Newman: Lord Mann, Bob Vylan, for a start, cites the Sex Pistols as one of their influences. Do you think Bob Vylan and Kneecap are part of a kind of long tradition of musicians being provocative, or is it something much more concerning than that?

Lord Mann: Well, he’s somebody who just wants to get a few headlines for himself by being extreme. But no, this isn’t a tradition of music or music festivals. There’s always been plenty of politics on the fringes of Glastonbury, occasionally on the stages. But this is something quite different. These festivals are meant to be about peace and love and people coming together, and everyone feeling able to go. And you have someone getting up and shouting for people to be killed. It crosses the line, significantly.

Cathy Newman: Right, so do you think a criminal offence may have been committed then?

Lord Mann: Well, that’s for the police to decide. But I think he may well find he’s got more problems with this rant he went in about somebody he’d worked with who was clearly Jewish – because he abused him for being so as part of his narrative. I mean, what’s that all about to suddenly… some personal dispute he’s got with someone, to be ranting in front of thousands of people about it?

Cathy Newman: Right.

Lord Mann: It was wholly unprofessional. It was pathetic, to be honest, And it’s not what festivals should be about. And imagine if you’re a young Jewish person – and there were some there, and I’ve spoken to some – in the middle of all of this. How does it make you feel? Are you being included in everything?

“It was wholly unprofessional. It was pathetic, to be honest, And it’s not what festivals should be about. And imagine if you’re a young Jewish person in the middle of all of this. How does it make you feel? Are you being included in everything?”

– Lord Mann

Cathy Newman: Well, what do you make of the BBC’s conduct? Because, you know, they’ve issued a warning on screen. The performance won’t be available on iPlayer. They already decided not to livestream Kneecap over concerns about past comments from that group. Did they do all they could? Or are you concerned – as the BBC critics allege – that there’s a problem there, a bias against Israel?

Lord Mann: Well, I think they’ve managed to get themselves snookered. I don’t need to look. They’ve got enough staff at Glastonbury. They ought to have been able to see this problem coming. But I don’t think they have done this wilfully. They’ve allowed themselves to be outmanoeuvred and snookered to create this platform. And I know my criticism is of the organisers of Glastonbury who put these people on, sorted out when they were going on, put them on the same stage pretty much at the same time as kind of the warm-up act. Now that’s deliberate, that’s calculated… and the impact on Jewish people at the festival, some of them have told me, it’s very negative.

Cathy Newman: Well, Glastonbury have said that they were appalled by the statements made by Bob Vylan, and their chants crossed the line. And they’re reminding everyone involved in the festival that there’s no place at Glastonbury for anti-Semitism. The BBC has also said that some of the comments made were deeply offensive. But do you think that there is a growing number of Jewish people in the UK are feeling that the country isn’t safe for them and that the national broadcaster has a problem with Jewish people?

Lord Mann: That’s it. Look, there’s a lot of young Jewish people. I’m particularly concerned what young Jewish people feel. Why shouldn’t they be able to go to a festival like Glastonbury, if they can afford it, and enjoy themselves without being picked on? That’s what should happen for everybody in our country. Why should young Jewish people, the Jewish community, be any different? And if there was going to be anything different, what about the Nova festival, where nearly 400 young people were murdered – some taken as hostage and then murdered, some eventually released as hostages – going to a music festival. But that never featured, that hasn’t featured at Glastonbury.

Cathy Newman: But a lot of young people…

Lord Mann: Why not, why haven’t they…?

Cathy Newman: … equally are really concerned about what they see unfolding in Gaza and the fact that as they see it, the Labour government has been quite slow to call that out – belatedly doing so – what do you say to that?

Lord Mann: Young people in town are entitled to have whatever views they have. And you know I’m not objecting – I don’t think anyone reasonable is objecting – to there being politics on the sidelines, whoever is at Glastonbury. Or for musicians to casually say something. This crossed the line in a big way. And the point of the Nova festival… you know their slogan is ‘we will dance again’. Why is that banner not up at Glastonbury? Isn’t that what Glastonbury is about?

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