No charges over IDF chants during Glastonbury set

An investigation by Avon and Somerset Police into chants made during a Bob Vylan performance at Glastonbury has concluded no further action will be taken.

“We have concluded, after reviewing all the evidence, that it does not meet the criminal threshold outlined by the CPS for any person to be prosecuted,” the force said in a statement.

“No further action will be taken on the basis there is insufficient evidential for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction.”

The investigation related to chants of “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]” and other comments made during the band’s performance on the West Holts Stage, which was also broadcast via a live stream on the BBC iPlayer.

The decision not to bring charges has been criticised by the embassy of Israel in London, as well as Jewish charities.

In a statement posted to X, the embassy said it was “deeply disappointing that vile calls for violence, repeated openly and without remorse, continue to fall on deaf ears”.

The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity which provides protection for Jewish communities in the UK, said that the decision “sends completely the wrong message at the worst possible time”.

A second charity, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), said: “Over the last two years, trust in the authorities has collapsed.

“With most British Jews now considering whether they have a future in the UK at all, over and over again it falls to us to explore all legal avenues to take action because the authorities will not.”

Following their Glastonbury appearance, the band were dropped from a number of festivals and performances including Radar Festival, a show at a German music venue and a US tour after their visas were revoked.

Bob Vylan are a London-based English punk-rap duo, who formed in Ipswich in 2017.

Bobby Vylan is the singer and guitarist, while Bobbie Vylan is the drummer. Both members use stage names to maintain their privacy and collectively refer to themselves as “the Bobs”.

As part of their enquiries into the chants, police said they conducted “a voluntary police interview under caution” with a man in his mid 30s in November.

Officers said they also spoke to “approximately 200” members of the public to see if they had been the victim of a criminal offence.

Avon and Somerset Police said in a statement it had also sought legal precedents from other UK police forces that have dealt with similar incidents and advice from the National Police Chiefs’ Council hate crime leads, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and “an independent barrister”.

“We sought specific consideration around the words stated, in terms of the intent behind them, the wider context of how people heard what was said, case law and anything else potentially relevant, including freedom of speech,” the statement continued.

“Consistently the advice we have received has highlighted fundamental evidential difficulties that cannot be ignored,” police said.

“The comments made on Saturday 28 June drew widespread anger, proving that words have real-world consequences.”

“We believe it is right this matter was comprehensively investigated, every potential criminal offence was thoroughly considered, and we sought all the advice we could to ensure we made an informed decision.”

“We have proactively engaged with a number of groups, particularly among our Jewish communities, since this incident and provided updates to them throughout.”

Police confirmed that the man that was interviewed as part of their investigation has already been informed of the outcome.

It comes after the Met Police said it was closing its investigation into a London performance, following advice from the CPS.

The performance on the afternoon of 28 June sparked widespread backlash, with Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer describing the chants as “appalling.”

In September, the BBC’s complaints units partially upheld complaints about the controversial performance.

It found that the broadcast broke editorial guidelines in relation to harm and offence but was cleared of breaching rules on impartiality and being likely to encourage or incite crime.

BBC chairman Samir Shah said the decision not to pull the live feed after they made the on-stage comments was “unquestionably an error of judgement”.

Former director general Tim Davie went on to apologise, saying: “I deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC.”

A small number of senior BBC staff stepped back from their day-to-day duties on music and live events after the festival.

At the time, Glastonbury Festival issued a statement saying they were “appalled by the statements,” and said that the comments “very much crossed the line”.

After the festival, Bob Vylan said in a statement: “We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine.”