Home Secretary condemns Kneecap as calls mount for group to be barred from Glastonbury
Irish trio issue statement claiming they don't support Hamas and have been victims of a 'smear campaign'
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
A senior minister has joined calls for controversial rap group Kneecap to be barred from Glastonbury as the group sought to claim it has “never supported Hamas or Hezbollah”.
With political pressure mounting on the Irish trio, they also issued an apology to the families of the murdered MPs David Amess and Jo Cox after footage emerged of one of the band urging the crowd at a gig to “kill” Tory parliamentarians.
“To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt,” the statement said.
But referencing comments made about Israel and Palestine – including footage of one Kneecap member shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a November 2024 concert in London, the band claimed: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history.”
But then referencing the war in Gaza, Kneecap alleged: “All two million Palestinian people in Gaza are currently being starved to death by Israel. At least 20,000 children in Gaza have been killed. The British government continues to supply arms to Israel, even after scores of NHS doctors warned Keir Starmer in August that children were being systematically executed with sniper shots to the head.
“Instead of defending innocent people or the principles of international law, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine. “This is where real anger and outrage should be directed towards. ”
They claimed the outrage over the band’s comments came after “establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria. ”
Scotland Yard is looking into the alleged call to kill MPs, and the apparent support for the proscribed terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah at gigs.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for police to prosecute the band over their comments, while Keir Starmer’s spokesperson has also condemned them.
On Tuesday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper joined the criticism saying: “It is disgraceful what they’ve said, and frankly dangerous and irresponsible.”
In regards to the band’s planned appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in June, Cooper said:”The police are looking into these disgraceful remarks and I hope event organisers look carefully at these issues.”
Labour minister Peter Kyle also joined calls for Glastonbury organisers to pull Kneecap from the line up of the festival.
“Not only do I condemn the comments made by the band, I condemn the government that funded them and gave them the money in the first place, which was, ironically, the Conservatives,” he said.
“If I was responsible for scheduling the bands (at Glastonbury), I certainly wouldn’t be putting them on.”
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