Kneecap lead anti-Starmer chant during politically charged Glastonbury set

The Guardian

4 hours ago

Kneecap began a politically charged set at Glastonbury on Saturday afternoon, leading the crowds in chants of 'Fuck Keir Starmer!'
The Irish rap act took to the stage at 4pm for their controversial set, which had been criticised by the UK prime minister as not 'appropriate'.
The PM's comment came after band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known as Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence for holding a Hezbollah flag at a London gig last November.
'We understand colonialism and we understand how important it is to support each other internationally,' said Ó hAnnaidh on the band's support for the people of Gaza who have suffered at the hands of Israel's military and through a lack of aid deliveries.
Later on Saturday, an Avon and Somerset police spokesperson said the force was assessing comments made by Kneecap during their set.
They told the Guardian: 'We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts stage at Glastonbury festival this afternoon.
'Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.'
During the Kneecap performance, a sea of at least 200 Palestinian flags made it difficult for cameras to get a clear shot of the stage from inside the crowd.
'The BBC editor is going to have some job,' Chara joked, referring to the flags. Earlier the broadcaster confirmed it would not be able to support a live stream of the performance.
The broadcaster has not yet confirmed when the footage will be available on iPlayer.
Users of the Glastonbury app received a push notification almost an hour before the band were due to perform saying the West Holts stage was closed. However, spectators were still getting in 20 minutes before the start of the set.
The show opened with clips of news and various TV discussion shows, with politicians and commentators saying the group should be banned and had been 'avoiding justice for far too long'.
There was booing from the crowd for Sharon Osborne calling them a 'pathetic band'.
'Glastonbury I'm a free man!' shouted Ó hAnnaidh, to wild cheers from the crowd.
'If anybody falls down, you've got to pick them up. We've got to keep each other safe,' he added.
The group, who rap in English and Irish, performed an energetic set including Your Sniffer Dogs Are Shite, Get Your Brits Out and Fine Art in front of a backdrop which said 'Free Palestine', occasionally varying with other phrases including 'Fuck Badenoch', referring to the leader of the Tory party.
The crowds chanted: 'Free Mo Chara, free free Mo Chara!'
'Mo Chara's back in court for a trumped up terrorism charge,' said Móglaí Bap, also known as Naoise Ó Cairealláin.
'It's not the first time there's a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British criminal justice system,' he said.
Ó hAnnaidh cut a defiant figure, saying his plight in the courts was nothing compared to the suffering of the Palestinian people. The band urged people to come out to support Ó hAnnaidh at his next court date at Westminster magistrates court.
'I want to say a big thank you to the Eavis family [organisers of Glastonbury],' Ó hAnnaidh added, for 'holding strong' in the face of criticism.
Asked on Wednesday about the controversy, organiser Emily Eavis said: 'There have been a lot of really heated topics this year, but we remain a platform for many, many artists from all over the world and, you know, everyone is welcome here.'
On numerous occasions, the trio chanted 'Fuck Keir Starmer!', with the crowd passionately shouting back. They also had the crowds chanting the Irish republican slogan, 'tiocfaidh ár lá', which translates as 'our day will come'.
The band laughed with the crowd asking: 'Is anyone going to see Rod Stewart tomorrow?'
The 80-year-old rocker was criticised ahead of his Pyramid stage performance after saying he thought the public should give Nigel Farage 'a chance'.
Describing him as Rod the Prod, Ó hAnnaidh said: 'I mean, the man's older than Israel.'
Paloma Faith, the musician and public speaker, was in the crowd for Kneecap's performance.
She told the Guardian: 'A lot of people are now being demonised because there's such a fear of terrorism. And I understand that fear but I don't think that Kneecap have anything to do with that. They're all about the soul and the heart of freedom of people.
'I don't know anyone who likes to see children being killed on such a huge scale for any reason and I think [Kneecap] stand by that. Obviously they come from the perspective of a marginalised community at the hands of British colonialism.'
She said artists who speak out on human rights issues were worried about being misquoted by the press or having their words taken out of context at a time when peaceful activists are coming under increasing attack from governments.
She added: 'Everyone's a bit scared now. People are going to jail for stuff that isn't what we perceive as violent. It's scary times.'
It comes after the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said on Monday that the pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action would be proscribed under anti-terror laws.
If approved in parliament in a vote next week, this would make membership and support of the group illegal and punishable with a prison sentence under anti-terror laws.
On stage, Kneecap reiterated their support for the group and band member JJ Ó Dochartaigh, known as DJ Próvaí, wore a Palestine Action T-shirt, underneath a red boiler suit associated with the group as he surfed the crowd.