​UK government acted “illegally” in withholding funding from Kneecap, court rules

A court in Belfast has ruled that the British government acted “illegally” in withholding significant funding from Belfast rap trio Kneecap.

The group made the decision to take legal action after their 2023 arts council funding application was revoked, claiming that they were being silenced by the UK government.

Their application for the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) was initially approved by the British Phonographic Industry, but was later “blocked and overruled” by the UK government, allegedly over the group’s political views.

A spokesperson for Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch reportedly said that while the UK government “fully supports freedom of speech”, they did not want to “hand out UK taxpayers' money to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself".

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A Belfast court has now called the British government’s verdict “unlawful and procedurally unfair”, ruling that the decision to withhold a total fund of £14,250 from the group was “illegal”.

The UK’s Department for Business and Trade said in a statement that it would not contest the case any longer. Kneecap’s DJ Próvaí has since called the decision to withhold funding “an attack on artistic culture”.

“For us this action was never about £14,250, it could have been 50 pence,” he said. “The motivation was equality. This was an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday agreement itself and an attack on Kneecap and our way of expressing ourselves.”

All funding received by Kneecap will be donated to two Belfast-based youth organisations, the trio have said, promoting Irish language culture amongst young people.

According to The Guardian, DJ Próvaí arrived at the Belfast High Court in a repurposed Land Rover. Earlier this week, the group shared a photo on Instagram of the vehicle with a projector fitted at the back in Dublin, projecting a message that read: “Israel is committing a genocide”.

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“They didn’t like the fact that we are totally opposed to all they represent, embodied right now by their arming of genocide in Gaza,” DJ Próvaí said.

“What they did was a fascist type action, an attempt to block art that does not agree with their views after an independent body made a decision. Their own courts have now found in Kneecap’s favour, as we knew they would. They have tried to silence us and they have failed.”

Next month, Kneecap will perform a charity concert raising funds for humanitarian aid in Palestine, Gig For Gaza. They’re joined on the line-up by the likes of Primal Scream, Liam Bailey, and former The Jam frontman Paul Weller.

[Via The Guardian]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter