Glastonbury 'not safe in the hands of the BBC,' says Farage
Nigel Farage has told LBC that Glastonbury is 'not safe in the hands of the BBC' following the broadcast of controversial chants at the festival.
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Speaking with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the Reform leader questioned the suitability of the BBC as the festival's official broadcaster, branding their decision to livestream punk-rap band Bob Vylan's performance "negligent".
"Frankly, I think the BBC doesn't deserve the license fee," Mr Farage told Nick, insisting performances by Rod Stewart and Lulu had "saved" the festival.
Pushed by Nick as to whether the Director General Tim Davie's job could be on the line, Farage admitted the BBC chief was "going to struggle".
"Why did no-one use any discretion at all?" Farage insisted. "Why did the BBC not have some kind of delay? That's negligent."
He also questioned the speed with which the livestream containing "death to the IDF" chants was taken down from its streaming service, highlighting the BBC's ability to do so, given over 400 BBC employees were scheduled to work at the festival.
Mr Davie was consulted on the decision to withhold the performance from iPlayer in the aftermath of the chants, with the livestream remaining available for five hours after broadcast.
Recent hours have also seen the cancellation of Bob Vylan's performances at two music festivals this summer, after singer Pascal Robinson-Foster lead Glastonbury crowd in an anti-Semitic chant of "death, death to the IDF".
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Labelling the situation "entirely predictable", Mr Farage went on to insist that the corporation had advanced warning of punk-rap group's possible chants ahead of their Glastonbury set.
"The whole thing was a disgrace - and predictable, entirely predictable," Farage told LBC.
"This guy, Vylan, was saying 'kill IDF soldiers' a couple of weeks before."
"I met Tim Davie about 10 days ago at a drinks party - he's so full of himself, so 'the BBC can do no wrong'," Farage told Nick.
"I'll tell you what, I bet he's not so chirpy this morning."
Branding the corporation bias, Farage insisted there "is prejudice on any reasoned debate on immigration - and now antisemitism".
During Bob Vylan's performance, Robinson-Foster chanted "death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)", while a member of Belfast rap group Kneecap suggested fans "start a riot" outside his bandmate's upcoming court appearance.
A police spokesman said: "This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our inquiries are at an early stage.
"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."