BBC broadcasts rapper chanting 'f*ck Farage and free Palestine'
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Loyle Carner like many musicians before him, from Stormzy to Dave, used his Reading Festival set to make a political stance – we applaud it

Lolye Carner performing at Reading Festival when he's sat on the stage saying to 'F Farage'

Loyle Carner’s Reading Festival performance has come under fire from right wingers and Zionists because he rapped the line, “F*ck Nigel Farage and free Palestine”.

However, it’s the BBC that is taking the most heat after broadcasting Carner’s performance live.

“F**k Nigel Farage and Free Palestine”

BBC captioned this performance from Reading Festival as “a poignant, uplifting set”

Defund the BBC. pic.twitter.com/QtgXcGfMgz

— Hannah (@ehannah0) August 31, 2026

Loyle Carner: Who is he?

Carner is a British hip-hop artist with four albums under his belt and an NME award for Best British Solo Artist. He doesn’t work for the BBC, so he’s free to voice whatever opinions he likes wherein lies the problem for the BBC’s live music broadcast (although we use the word ‘problem’ in a loose sense here).

Reform UK’s Chris Rose responded to the clip as follows:

The BBC decided to broadcast the rapper Loyle Carner’s lyrics at Reading Festival:

“F**k Nigel Farage and Free Palestine!”

He also attacked JK Rowling with expletives.

Another “politically neutral” BBC mistake which only ever seems to go one way.

That’s not entirely true though.

The BBC also goes out of its way to broadcast Nigel Farage’s endless press conferences despite his party only having a handful of MPs. There’s clearly a stronger argument for that going against political neutrality, given that the BBC is in no way required to amplify Farage’s every utterance.

It is supposed to give us a look at what’s happening in the country, though, and sometimes that will mean hearing from people you don’t agree with.

Aren’t the right supposed to be pro-free speech?

Musicians get personal with festivalgoers

As reported by Novara, during his Reading Festival set, Carner also:

  • Called on the crowd to “make some noise for the NHS”
  • Attacked “toxic masculinity bullsh*t”
  • Shared that his song Speed of Plight was “in direct opposition [to] the far right”
  • Said: “I don’t really like JK Rowling, do you know what I mean?”

But Carner certainly wasn’t the only one speaking his mind — have a read of what other acts told the crowd:

Kneecap say ‘f*** Benjamin Netanyahu’ and brand Andy Burnham a ‘w****r’ at Readinghttps://t.co/1YBqWIsp9Hhttps://t.co/1YBqWIsp9H

— The Daily Record (@Daily_Record) August 31, 2026

Right wingers aren’t wrong to say that there are more left-leaning musicians among the younger generations. Right wingers are free to break into the music industry if they want to address that balance, but the reason they don’t is because they tend to lack that trademark rockstar swagger.

For once, I’m lost for words https://t.co/y2uzUcJM5u

— Max (@maxcownie_) November 10, 2025

Meet the extremely normal acting and looking young normal tories pic.twitter.com/BcL3WUqe5W

— Neil Renic (@NC_Renic) October 10, 2025

Pick a lane

If right wingers are serious about free speech, they need to stop having a tantrum every time someone says something they don’t like. If they’re not serious about free speech, maybe they should all shut up?

All we know is f*ck Nigel Farage and free Palestine.

Featured image via I_amMukhtar/ X

By Willem Moore

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