Express readers have made their opinion on whether Tim Davie should be sacked from the BBC clear in a poll. The director general faced new calls to be axed from his role after it emerged he was at Glastonbury Festival when Bob Vylan chanted “death, death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces) during their set.
Despite being made aware of the performance by Bob Vylan frontman Bobby Vylan, who led the crowd in the chants, Davie did not pull the livestream and it remained available on BBC iPlayer for another five hours. In a poll, a staggering 91% of voters opted for ‘Yes’ when asked if Davie should resign following the Glastonbury scandal. A mere 7% voted ‘No’, while 2% of voters were unsure and picked ‘Don’t know’.
Express readers had their say after the Rap punk act led a crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF”. The duo expressed solidarity with rap act, Kneecap, before they appeared on the West Holts stage.
The controversial Irish hip-hop group led chants of “F*** Keir Starmer” and urged crowds to riot in the Westminster courts during their set on Saturday.
A criminal investigation has since been launched over both performances, Avon and Somerset Police has said.
Bob Vylan’s performance was condemned by festival organisers, MPs and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.”
After being made aware of the chants, Davie, 58, said the performance should not be made available on demand.
While the broadcaster’s director general was consulted over what to do about the performance, it was reported that pulling the livestream was not discussed.
A BBC source said: “Tim was there for a few hours to see the team. He was made aware during the time he was there of what had been said on stage. He intervened to make sure the performance was not made available on demand and he was very clear about that.
“Pulling the livestream brings certain technological challenges. With hindsight, we would have taken it down. He would have asked what the options were, but it isn’t as straightforward as hitting a button and taking it down.”
