BBC staff praised me when I left stage at Glastonbury, claims Bob Vylan

The outspoken punk duo sparked controversy when they led chants of “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” at the festival in June.

Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast in his first interview since Glastonbury, Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, said he was praised by the BBC's team for a “fantastic” performance.

He said: “We come off stage. It’s normal. Nobody thought anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like, ‘That was fantastic! We loved that!’”

“Nobody at the BBC at that time was there like, ‘oh my gosh’. You know… it was very normal. And then we got back and… we went and got ice cream,” he added.

The broadcaster was widely criticised at the time for allowing the performance to be aired live and making it available on BBC iPlayer for several hours afterwards.

The corporation has since apologised, describing the chants as “unacceptable”.

In a letter to MPs, BBC’s Director General Tim Davie said: “I deeply regret that such deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to apologise to our viewers and listeners and in particular the Jewish community.”

Despite backlash over the comments, Vylan has insisted he has no regrets about his words.

Asked by Theroux if he stands by the chants, Vylan replied: “Oh yeah. Like what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes I would do it again. I’m not regretful of it. I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays.

“I’m not regretful of it at all, like the subsequent backlash that I’ve faced. It’s minimal.

“It’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through. If that can be my contribution and if I can have my Palestinian friends and people that I meet from Palestine, that have had to flee, that have lost members in double digits of their family and they can say, yo, your chant, I love it. Or it gave me a breath of fresh air or whatever.

“And I don’t want to overstate the importance of the chant. That’s not what I’m trying to do, but if I have their support, they’re the people that I’m doing it for, they’re the people that I’m being vocal for, then what is there to regret. Oh, because I’ve upset some right-wing politician or some right-wing media?”

Asked what he meant by the chant “Death to the IDF,” Vylan said: “My whole issue with this thing is that the chant is so unimportant. It’s so unimportant, and the response to it was so disproportionate.

“What is important is the conditions that exist to allow that chant to even take place on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that exist in Palestine. Where the Palestinian people are being killed at an alarming rate.

“Who cares about the chant? It’s like, what is it that is allowing for that chant to even exist? That’s what the focus should have always been on it.”

He added: “An end to the oppression that Palestinian people are facing. An end to the apartheid regime that has been created, an end to that. “End, End the IDF” does not rhyme, wouldn’t have caught on, would it? You know what I mean?

“Because that is what we are up there to do. We are there to entertain. We are there to play music. I am a lyricist. “Death, Death to IDF” rhymes. Perfect chant.”