FORMER Attorney General Sir Michael Ellis has called for the resignation of the BBC Director-General Tim Davie over the Glastonbury hate chat controversy.
Speaking to Martin Daubney on GB News, he said: “Not only do I think it requires governmental intervention, I think it requires heads to roll. I think this is a step too far.
“Frankly, I think it’s time now for Tim Davie, as Director-General of the BBC, to go. We cannot have the situation that we have now seen at Glastonbury being broadcast on our airwaves.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Jewish people in this country who are obligated, like everybody else, to pay their license fee. Can you imagine those Jewish people who are in this country who are required by law to pay the license fee when the BBC are transmitting that type of material?
“Now, the fact is, they walked into this with their eyes wide open, it seems to me, both the Glastonbury organisation itself and the BBC. It’s pretty rare Martin that you have both Kemi Badenoch and Keir Starmer agreeing on something.
“They both warned beforehand about Glastonbury, those warnings were ignored, and now we are where we are.”
He added: “He really does have to go. The fact is, even if he was not there himself, even if he was so-called off duty, the fact is, he is the head of the organisation, it’s extremely easy.
“All broadcasters know, and I’m sure many people at home would imagine, it’s common sense there is a cut-off switch that can be pressed. And if you are covering an event like Glastonbury, especially with all the pre-warnings about it, someone in the gallery there in the control room, literally should have had their finger hovering over the cut off button.
“This shouldn’t have taken anybody by surprise. And if they were going to broadcast this stuff, they should have been ready to cut it off at very quick notice. To have made an active decision to broadcast, it is outrageous.”
Asked if Glastonbury should lose its licence, he said: “I think they’re in trouble. I spoke just a short time ago to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, a charity, a noted charity in this country, and they are planning to write to Glastonbury and to the local authorities who are responsible for what’s called a premises license, which is the events license for such an event as Glastonbury, and challenge the continuation of that license.
“I can fully understand why that should be the case, because this is an international event licensed with over 200,000 people to attend, and they have a responsibility to adhere to the standards that are required by that license.
“And now this charity, the Campaign Against Antisemitism, is challenging that license going forward, so Glastonbury is in real trouble.”
On whether the BBC has a pro-Palestine collective mindset, he said: “I’m afraid that’s right, and that’s certainly the perception that many people do have, because this isn’t the first time this has occurred, or something similar to it has occurred.
“There have been other examples of this, and so there’s understandable concern that the BBC is not a neutral party in this debate, and it’s a tragedy for their own reputation.
“For those of us that care about the BBC as an institution, it’s not in anybody’s interests for that international reputation to be sullied by the fact that people don’t feel they can believe their reporting on this topic.
“When it comes to the Middle East, there are many people who increasingly don’t feel they can trust the BBC and that surely is fatal when you’re expected to pay a tax to receive that coverage.”
