Tory MPs demand controversial rapper faces same fate as Lucy Connolly after leading thousands in vile anti-Israel chants at Glastonbury
A political firestorm erupted last night as MPs demanded rapper Bobby Vylan face immediate arrest after leading festival crowds in chanting “death, death to the IDF” – while childminder Lucy Connolly languishes in prison for a social media post.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp unleashed a blistering attack on the government, declaring that Robinson-Foster “should be arrested and prosecuted immediately”.
The Tory heavyweight warned: “A failure to do so would be a clear example of two-tier justice under Sir Keir Starmer and his Attorney General, Lord Hermer.
In explosive scenes that left festival organisers “appalled”, the punk duo’s frontman – whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster – whipped up crowds at the West Holts Stage into an anti-Israel frenzy that police are now investigating.
Richard Tice went even further, branding the rapper’s actions “far worse than what Lucy Connolly did” and labelling the chanting “clearly antisemitic” and “an incitement to violence.
The Reform UK deputy leader has been championing Connolly’s case after she received a crushing 31-month sentence for a single tweet posted after three little girls were butchered in Southport.
BBC in the firing line
The national broadcaster faced a barrage of criticism for broadcasting the inflammatory performance live on iPlayer, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemning the “appalling hate speech” and demanding the BBC “explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick suggested “the BBC’s producers would have known about Bob Vylan’s hate-filled lyrics” and claimed continuing to broadcast showed “the inbuilt liberal bias of so many in editorial positions.
A BBC spokesperson eventually admitted: “Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive.
The corporation hastily announced it had “no plans to make the performance available on demand” – but critics say the damage was already done.
Police launch investigation
Avon and Somerset Police said they are assessing video evidence to “determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.
During the incendiary performance, Vylan also led crowds in chanting “free, free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free” – a phrase many consider a call for Israel’s destruction.
The rapper told the baying crowd: “We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises. We are the violent punks, because sometimes you gotta get your message across with violence because that is the only language some people speak, unfortunately”.
Festival bosses ‘appalled’
Emily Eavis and Glastonbury organisers issued a damning statement declaring they were “appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan”.
They insisted: “Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence”.
The Israeli Embassy condemned the “inflammatory and hateful rhetoric”, warning it “raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence”.
Defiant rapper’s bizarre defence
In an extraordinary Instagram post last night, the duo refused to back down, declaring simply: “I said what I said”.
The rambling statement bizarrely compared their hate-filled chants to a child wanting better school dinners, claiming: “Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.
Hours earlier, as outrage mounted, Bobby Vylan posted a photo of himself eating pink ice cream with the caption: “While Zionists are crying on socials, I’ve just had late night (vegan) icecream.
Lucy’s ‘two-tier’ nightmare
The controversy has reignited fury over Lucy Connolly’s harsh treatment. The Northamptonshire childminder is serving 31 months after posting that hotels housing asylum seekers should be “set fire” to in a tweet she quickly deleted following the Southport murders.
Richard Tice visited Connolly in HMP Peterborough last week, revealing shocking claims she had been “manhandled by up to six prison officers” and “starved of food, with no lunch or dinner.
He branded her “Sir Keir Starmer’s political prisoner” and said her treatment was “politically motivated.
Culture wars explode
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes “grotesque”, writing on X: “Glorifying violence against Jews isn’t edgy.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy spoke to BBC Director General Tim Davie “to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance.
The band – formed in 2017 and blending grime, punk rock and hip hop – keep their real identities secret, with both members using stage names.
Their politically charged music includes tracks like “I Heard You Want Your Country Back” with lyrics including “Shut the f*** up” to those wanting to reclaim Britain.
As the two-tier justice row intensifies, all eyes are on whether police and prosecutors will treat the rapper’s inflammatory chants with the same severity shown to Lucy Connolly’s deleted tweet.
For now, Bobby Vylan remains free while a mother of three counts down her days in a cell.
Image credit: UK grime-punk duo BOB VYLAN in Venice Beach, California – Oct 2022. Photo by Ithaka Darin Pappas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
