Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer answers journalists at the end of a visit at a Dutch marine training centre, as part of the UK-Netherlands Joint Amphibious Force in Rotterdam, on the sidelines of the two-day NATO's Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague on June 24, 2025.
Kin Cheung / POOL / AFP
Glastonbury (AFP) — United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday added his voice to those condemning a British punk-rap group for anti-Israel remarks at the Glastonbury music festival, an incident that has already sparked a police inquiry.
Bob Vylan led crowds in chants of “Death, death to the IDF,” a reference to the acronym for the Israeli military, during their set on Saturday.
British police officers are also examining comments by the Irish rap trio Kneecap, whose members have also been highly critical of Israel and its military campaign against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The Telegraph Sunday that “there is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.”
“I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence,” he added.
“The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast,” he said, referring to the country’s national broadcaster.
