UK
MPs back Jewish group’s plea to call off Bob Vylan Manchester gig
Manchester Academy has not even responded to the request, despite Thursday’s attack the JRC said
October 6, 2025 11:11
Manchester Academy has not even responded to the request, despite Thursday’s attack the JRC said
October 6, 2025 11:11MPs from across Greater Manchester have backed calls from the community for an upcoming Bob Vylan gig in Manchester city centre to be cancelled in the wake of the Heaton Hebrew Congregation terror attack.
The rap outfit, which last month encouraged fans at a gig in Amsterdam to “f*** the Zionists. Go find them in the streets”, according to De Telegraaf newspaper, is due to perform at the Manchester Academy on November 5.
The band, which until recently had achieved virtually no mainstream success, was propelled to fame after frontman Pascal Robinson-Foster – who goes by the stage name Bobby Vylan – led crowds in a chant calling for “Death to the IDF” during a performance at Glastonbury Festival, which was broadcast to the nation by the BBC.
With the Jewish community reeling from the shul attack, which has left two men dead, and community tension high, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region (JRC) has urged Manchester Academy to call off the gig in a letter signed by nine local Labour MPs and one Liberal Democrat.
The body said it first wrote the letter three weeks ago, but had not received a response, describing the venue’s silence, even following Thursday’s terror attack, as “unforgivable”.
“We are deeply concerned by Manchester Academy’s decision to host Bob Vylan, an artist who has repeatedly engaged in rhetoric that crosses the line from legitimate political discourse into antisemitism and incitement,” the letter reads.
“We are even more alarmed given the Director General of the BBC accepted that he was responsible for an “antisemitic broadcast” by covering their Glastonbury performance that directly led to an increase in hate crime against the Jewish community.
“Subsequently, the band have mocked the murder of Charlie Kirk … and spoken about finding ‘Zionists in the streets’. These statements and actions do not provoke debate but carry a real danger by promoting hatred.”
It continued: “There is a vital distinction between legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and speech that veers into antisemitism. Freedom of expression is a central component of our democracy that must be protected but it cannot be right to platform an artist who has consistently been condemned as hateful and racist.
“We call on the Manchester Academy to cancel the performance and commit to clear policies to ensure that it will not legitimise prejudice under the guise of freedom of speech.”
Labour MPs Elise Blundell, Kirith Entwistle, James Frith, Navendu Mishra, Jo Platt, Connor Rand, Graham Stringer and Christian Wakeford, Liberal Democrat Tom Morrison and Labour and Co-Operative MP Paul Waugh signed the letter in support.
The JRC said: “Over the last few days we have spoken about how incitement across society is putting the Jewish community in danger. One of the many issues we have continually raised is how our cultural spaces are being weaponised to support terrorism and glorify violence.”
It added: "The fact a band who are responsible for an 'antisemitic broadcast' was booked at one of our city’s most iconic venues is shameful. The fact we have not received a response even after British Jews were murdered in cold blood is utterly unforgivable."
Manchester Academy has been contacted for comment.
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