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Bobby Vylan 'death to IDF' outrage leaves one elephant in room about BBC

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It's hard to know who to hold in deeper contempt - the absurd, vainglorious, thick-as-mince rapper Bobby Vylan, or the witless BBC production team who allowed this strutting fool uncensored access to our national broadcaster. I suppose we must start with Vylan - real name, Pascal Robinson-Foster - and his repeated calls during his preposterous performance at Glastonbury for the death of Israeli soldiers.

This murderous claptrap went down well with the crowd, who enthusiastically joined in the moronic chant: "Death, death to the IDF!" (The Israeli Defence Forces). Well, they would, wouldn't they? The swaying masses aren't exactly famous for their communal intellectual acuity. Remember "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn...?" I rest my case.

Until his appearance at Glastonbury a week ago today, Robinson-Foster's reputation as a rapper was, shall we say, slight. Put another way, almost no one had ever heard of him. Perhaps that's because he's not very good at it.

A glance at just one of his self-penned verses - foulmouthed, derivative doggerel, every line of it - tells you all you need to know about his "talent".

"I heard you want your country back, Shut the f*** up, I heard you want your country back, Uh-uh, you can't have that, I heard you want your country back, Well, s***, me too, We the people on the street got the gammons in retreat."

About as coherent as Robinson-Foster's later statement when he claimed: "We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people."

Right. So "death, death" (to Israel's conscripted men and women) actually meant "life, life", did it, Pascal? And chants of "from the river to the sea" (usually interpreted as calling for the annihilation of Israel's Jewish population) meant... what, exactly?

Meanwhile, what of the BBC's Glastonbury outside broadcast team, which kept Robinson Foster's microphone fully faded up throughout his repugnant diatribe, and the multi-camera set up sharply focused on him?

What could possibly be the reason no one pulled the plug? Well, the elephant in the room is right there in one possible answer. Perhaps it's because they agreed with him. Just a thought.

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Great speeding peletons of lycra-clad bikers have long dominated the road encircling London's Regents Park, often clearly travelling well above the 20mph limit, blithely ignoring red lights, and fanning out to dominate the carriageway.

They clearly think they own the place and the police seem to concur - I've yet to see a patrol car pull a single cyclist over for speeding, ignoring traffic signals or lurching into a dangerous manoeuvre.

But this week, I experienced something new: political harangue delivered direct from the saddle. I was sitting quietly in my parked convertible VW Beetle, top down in the sunshine, when an approaching (and yes, speeding) cyclist pointed directly and aggressively at me.

"FREE, FREE PALESTINE!" he screamed, so wildly - almost hysterically - that his spittle spattered across my windscreen as he shot past.

I have no idea why he singled me out for his howling sloganeering. It was totally irrational. (Incidently, I've always supported an independent Palestinian state). But as I wiped his sputum away, I just hoped this wasn't the start of a new trend: unsolicited, lofty lectures on international politics from the Lycra lot. They're insufferable enough as it is.

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If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, what planet are judges from? Are some of their lordships even from our solar system at all?

This week one of them allowed an Albanian burglar with almost 50 convictions to stay in the UK because his crimes were "not extreme enough" to "revolt" the public.

Uhh? Serious and prolific offending that saw career criminal Zenel Beshi jailed for SIX YEARS in Italy for robbery, theft, and false imprisonment? All of which he failed to disclose when (oh, lucky us) this low-life washed up on our shores. The Home Office tried to kick him out. Tribunal judge Leonie Hirst won't let them, ruling that Beshi's not all that much of a threat. Hmm. Can we deport judges? Preferably to another galaxy?

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