MPs have demanded that controversial rapper Bobby Vylan “should be arrested and prosecuted” like Lucy Connolly following their “offensive” chants at Glastonbury Festival.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has demanded that the rapper, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, should face consequences for his words or risk becoming the centre of a fresh “two-tier justice” row.
Robinson-Foster “should be arrested and prosecuted immediately”, Philp said.
“A failure to do so would be a clear example of two-tier justice under Sir Keir Starmer and his Attorney General, Lord Hermer”.
While Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, argued that Robinson-Foster’s actions were “far worse than what Lucy Connolly did”, and labelled his chanting “clearly antisemitic” and “an incitement to violence”.
Lucy Connolly received a 31-month prison sentence for “inciting racial hatred” through a social media post following Axel Rudakubana’s Southport murders.
Now, Avon and Somerset Police are examining footage from the festival after the rapper repeatedly chanted “death, death to the IDF” during his performance.
Festival organisers have condemned the performance, with Emily Eavis warning that his words “very much crossed a line” and declaring there is “no place… for anti-Semitism, hate speech or incitement to violence”.
And on Sunday evening, the rap duo’s Instagram page published a lengthy statement in defence of their words.
“I said what I said,” it reads.
It continues: “I listen to my daughter typing out loud as she fills out a school survey asking for her feedback on the current state of her school dinners.
“She expressed that she would like healthier meals, more options and dishes inspired by other parts of the world.
“Listening to her voice her opinions on a matter that she cares about and affects her daily, reminds me that we may not be doomed after all.
“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.”
The BBC, meanwhile, has faced fury over its decision to broadcast the controversial performance.
Sir Keir Starmer condemned Robinson-Foster’s “appalling hate speech” and warned that the BBC urgently “needed to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast”.
Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, suggested “the BBC’s producers would have known about Bob Vylan’s hate-filled lyrics”, and has argued that continuing to broadcast the performance “shows the inbuilt liberal bias of so many in editorial positions”.
GB News has approached No10 for comment following Chris Philp’s “two-tier justice” accusation.
