UK government leaders call for Kneecap to be removed from festival line-ups

UK government leaders have demanded Kneecap be removed from festival line-ups this summer after a clip resurfaced of the band allegedly saying: "Kill your local MP".

The video, which was filmed during a gig in November 2023, reportedly shows one of the Irish rap trio's members saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

Kneecap have insisted that they are being targeted by a "smear campaign" following pro-Palestine messaging during their performance at Coachella earlier this month.

The comments have led to criticism by a number of leading government figures, with a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer labelling the comments "completely unacceptable".

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Labour MP David Taylor has written to Glastonbury Festival, where Kneecap are scheduled to appear this summer, urging the festival to drop the band or risk "undermining its proud tradition of promoting peace, unity and social responsibility".

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who "illegally" blocked Kneecap from receiving an arts grant while she was serving as Business Secretary in 2023, has also demanded their removal from this year's Glastonbury and all BBC playlists "immediately".

Scottish First Minister John Swinney has called on Glasgow's TRNSMT Festival to remove the trio from its 2025 line-up, telling BBC Scotland News: "I think that makes it incredibly difficult for a band like Kneecap to perform at TRNSMT because I think they have crossed a line to be honest."

Katie Amess, whose father, MP David Amess who was murdered in his constituency in 2021, has demanded an apology from the group — adding that she is “gobsmacked at the stupidity of somebody or a group of people being in the public eye and saying such dangerous, violent rhetoric.”

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Yesterday (April 28), Kneecap issued an apology via Twitter to the families of murdered MPs David Amess and Jo Cox, writing: "To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt."

They added that they "reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual," and that "an extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action."

"Kneecap’s message has always been — and remains — one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs. No smear campaign will change that," they continue.

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The November 2024 footage is the second resurfaced video to be investigated by counter-terrorism police after another clip, from April 2023, appeared to show a member of the trio shouting: "Up Hamas, up Hezbollah", during a performance in London.

In their statement, Kneecap added: "Suddenly, days after calling out the US administration at Coachella to applause and solidarity, there is an avalanche of outrage and condemnation by the political classes of Britain.

"The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power. Shame on them," they finish.

You can read Kneecap's full statement below.

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter