GLASTONBURY chiefs should “think very carefully” about allowing Irish rappers Kneecap to perform at the festival, a top minister warned yesterday.
Conservative and Labour MPs erupted in anger after video footage surfaced of a band member allegedly shouting: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory.
ReutersMembers of Kneecap pose on the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Academy Awards in Dublin, Ireland, February 14, 2025[/caption]
kneecap32/InstagramKneecap show support for Palestine during a Coachella festival set before posing backstage with porn star Mia Khalifa[/caption]
“Kill your local MP.”
Furious Conservative Shadow Minister Mark Francois told the Commons it would be “unconscionable” for the group to be allowed on stage at one of the UK’s most iconic events.
Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis also hit out at the comments, saying MPs must be able to do their jobs without fearing for their safety.
In the Commons he called the group’s remarks “dangerous and irresponsible.”
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But responding to an urgent question, Mr Jarvis argued that “it is not for government ministers to say who is going to appear at Glastonbury, it’s for the organisers of the festival”.
He added: “There is an ongoing live police investigation, so the Government would urge the organisers at the Glastonbury Festival to think very carefully about who is invited to perform there later this year.”
The Met is now assessing the video, along with a separate clip from a November 2024 gig in which a Kneecap member appeared to shout: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” – both proscribed terrorist groups in the UK.
Amid the firestorm, Kneecap issued an apology to the families of murdered MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, saying: “We never intended to cause you hurt.”
Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in 2016, and Sir David was fatally stabbed in 2021.
Mr Francois slammed the statement as “crocodile tears”.
A spokesperson for Sir Keir Starmer called the apology “half hearted”.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called Kneecap’s comments “evil” and accused them of “attacking democracy itself.”
Mr Philp demanded to know why the group was handed more than £14,000 in taxpayer cash and said they should face prosecution if found to have broken the law by supporting banned terror groups.
Mr Jarvis replied: “We don’t think individuals expressing the views that we’ve heard should be receiving taxpayer funding, I think that is a non-controversial thing to say, and the Secretary of State for DCMS said yesterday – officials are reviewing the music export growth scheme in light of the comments that have emerged.”
Meanwhile, Labour MP David Taylor urged iTunes, YouTube and Spotify to remove Kneecap’s songs.
And he called on ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to say sorry for being snapped with the trio.
Mr Taylor said: “I wrote to Glastonbury Festival urging them to remove this music group from their line-up.
“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.”
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