Tim Davie calls BBC’s Bob Vylan Glastonbury broadcast ‘significant mistake’

BBC director-general Tim Davie has said the corporation’s decision to broadcast Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury Festival set live was “a very significant mistake”.

While facing questions from MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday, Davie said the punk duo’s set was “antisemitic” and “deeply disturbing”.

The BBC has faced criticism for continuing to livestream the performance of the band as they led chants of “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” at the festival in June.

Asked about his response, the 58-year-old said: “I don’t think I misread it, I just got there (to Glastonbury) when I heard about it (at) about five o’clock … the performance was well done by then, and at that point I knew absolutely that it was an antisemitic broadcast.

“So, my decision was to get that off on demand, simple as that, I mean, it wasn’t too complicated in my mind, and to your point, I do think it was deeply disturbing, deeply disturbing.

“I mean, personally, I’ve talked to many people about this, I thought it was deeply disturbing what happened, I mean the BBC made a very significant mistake, very significant, in broadcasting that.

“But you know, the fact that those words were broadcast to that broad audience, it was, frankly, to your point, it was disturbing.”

He went on to say that when he saw the footage, he said: “We’re not broadcasting this guy.”

Davie was later asked about the BBC’s Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary, and said the corporation had “executed the recommendations” after a report found the corporation failed to disclose information about the child narrator’s father’s position within the Hamas-run government.

The film, which was made for the BBC by the independent production company HOYO Films, was removed from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

BBC chairman Samir Shah, who was also being quizzed, said: “It was a real mistake. What (the report) found was that we were not open and transparent about the relationship of the narrator to a Hamas official, really does go straight to heart of the BBC’s reputational risk in terms of being impartial and trustworthy.

“It was a sin of omission, which is just as serious as a sin of commission.”

Davie also spoke about another Gaza documentary, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was not aired by the BBC and was later shown on Channel 4.

He explained: “I think we made the right decision, but I don’t think it’s news by the way from our side here, in terms of the work it’s current affairs.

“There’s a slight difference in terms of a doc … it’s fairly straightforward where we were, which is we were a little bit frustrated, because clearly the voice is the medics.

“We’ve given a lot of voice on our airways, by the way, and on our news coverage, to medics working in Gaza under extreme conditions and the terrible things they’re having to face, which is horrendous, but in this film it’s pretty straightforward.”

Davie added he felt Israel not allowing journalists into Gaza is “unacceptable”.

He later defended the decision to cast former Apprentice star Thomas Skinner on the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing, saying the show’s production team was looking for people “who want to do Strictly, and those people they thought would be interesting to the audience”.

Asked about the decision to air the current series of MasterChef after former judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode were sacked from the show following a review into Wallace’s alleged misconduct, Davie said the “vast majority” of chefs wanted the series to air.

Davie was also asked if he agreed Laura Kuenssberg has given “soft” interviews to the leader of Reform, Nigel Farage, to which he said: “I don’t recognise that, I get feedback from every side on that, but I don’t want to sound complacent, we are debating this every day at the BBC.”

At the start of proceedings, Davie was asked if he considered resigning over the summer due to controversial incidents relating to Glastonbury, Gaza and MasterChef.

He said: “This is not a job for the faint-hearted. What has been on my mind is dealing with the issues.”

He acknowledged the issues the BBC faces are “serious” and said he is “ensuring the BBC is taking the right actions, I’ve been totally focused on that”.

He added: “If I said I wasn’t feeling the pressure, I would be inhuman.”

Davie told the committee that “we may see more things coming out” after being asked for assurance there will not be another “scandal of BBC talent abusing their position”.

He would not be drawn on questions about whether there were currently further scandals about workplace behaviour and abuses of power brewing.