Corbyn urged to apologise for being pictured with Kneecap
David Taylor MP raises Islington North MP's photo stunt with the Irish rap act
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been called on to apologise for being pictured with Kneecap by Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead David Taylor.
Mr Taylor told MPs: “I wrote to Glastonbury Festival urging them to remove this music group from their line-up. The reason I did this is because they have allegedly called for the murder of Conservative colleagues in this House, and because we’ve seen the footage of them appearing to show support for Hezbollah and Hamas, including the waving of a flag of a proscribed organisation.
“Words, as others have said, have tragic consequences and beloved colleagues Jo Cox and Sir David Amess were tragically murdered, and June 16 2016 remains one of the worst days of my life and I know many colleagues in this House feel the same, and we all have a duty to prevent this from ever happening again.”
He added: “I also note the absence of the member for Islington North (Mr Corbyn), who is not present and not involved in this discussion, and will he join me in condemning his appearance in a photograph with that group, and will he join me in calling for him to apologise for appearing in the photo?”
After the Deputy Speaker noted Corbyn was not in the House to answer Home Office minister Dan Jarvis replied: “Let me agree with his remarks about words having consequences. He is absolutely right about that and he is absolutely right that we all have a duty in this House to do everything that we possibly can to conduct our politics in a responsible and reasonable way as do others.”
He added: “I will not refer to (Mr Corbyn), who’s not in his place on this occasion.”
Corbyn met the group in December 2023 in his Islington North constituency for a video put out by his Peace and Justice project.
His website said the group were “consistent advocates of Palestinian liberation throughout the careers.”
It added:”During a wide-ranging conversation about their formation, Irish language and literature, as well as their decision to sign our ‘Music For A Ceasefire’ open letter calling for an end to the siege of Gaza, saying it was “the very least” they could do.”
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