SNP councillors defy Swinney over Kneecap TRNSMT ban call
Kneecap have faced a slew of cancelled gigs in recent weeks after videos emerged appearing to show the band calling for MPs to be killed.
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The trio have apologised to the families of murdered politicians but claimed footage of the incident had been 'exploited and weaponised'.
The videos emerged after their performance at Coachella music festival in the US where they ended their set with pro-Palestinian messages.
The first message said: "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people," followed by: "It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes."
Shortly after the set, footage of the group at a November 2023 gig then emerged online, appearing to show one member saying: "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP."
There have been calls for the band to be axed from TRNSMT (Image: Newsquest) First Minister John Swinney condemned the group's language as 'completely and utterly unacceptable'.
He told reporters: 'There is no way that is acceptable in a debate about free speech, it is completely beyond the pale.
'I think that makes it incredibly difficult for a band like Kneecap to perform at TRNSMT — I think they have crossed a line, to be honest.'
At a meeting of Glasgow City Council on Thursday, Scottish Green councillor Jon Molyneux tabled a motion about Gaza, which condemned Israel and accused it of genocide.
It also noted its "concern about the reaction to Irish musical act Kneecap's performance at California's Coachella Music Festival and the resulting smear campaign, which has included calls by politicians for Kneecap to be removed from this year's TRNSMT festival on Glasgow Green."
He linked the calls to ban Kneecap to their criticism of the Israeli government. He urged colleagues to resist attempts to 'shut them up'.
He said: 'The other threat we must counter is the increasing efforts by pro-Israel groups to silence those voicing opposition to its actions. The highest-profile example of this, which is mentioned in the motion, is the Irish band Kneecap. But they are by no means alone in this. There are countless other examples here in Scotland and elsewhere.
'I want to be absolutely clear, I do not condone Kneecap's previous on-stage comments about politicians. I think they were stupid comments to make, and it is right they should be held to account for them — and they have apologised for the hurt they have caused.
'But while some of those who have called for them to be cancelled might best be described as pearl-clutching, others have done so unashamedly because of the band's pro-Palestine views and their appearance at the Coachella Festival in particular.
'This is deliberate. This is an attempt to shut them up, and we should not indulge this.'
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SNP leader Susan Aitken said many people had been 'genuinely upset' by the emergence of comments about killing Conservative MPs and that 'the anger in many quarters was a sincere response to those comments'.
She added: 'The UK is a state where MPs have been murdered in recent years, and, as I have said previously today, words can and do matter.
'What I would add, however, is that that — certainly not on the part of the SNP group — does not translate into support for a ban on them playing in Glasgow, or indeed anywhere else.
'Nor does it take away from the point that the condemnation of Kneecap, particularly in the United States, does appear to be driven by a wider dislike of their stances — not only their position in support of the Palestinian people, but also their general stance of satirical provocation.
'Pop music, since it has existed, has generated outrage, and satire does characterise much of Kneecap's performances and personality. They are about being provocative.'
She said provocative statements by artists should not always be taken literally or assumed to be a call to arms.
'That is the role of art — to provoke. It is the role of art to make us uncomfortable.
'And we have to recognise also that artistic freedom applies to artists whose output is not to our tastes, whose outlooks are not to our tastes.
'Freedom, if it means anything, has to be for everyone. Freedom of expression has to be for everyone.'
Labour said they could not support the Green motion.
Councillor Bill Butler told the full council: 'I know something of satire, as do many people here, having studied it, and what we are discussing here is not A Modest Proposal by Swift or The Mask of Anarchy by Shelley.
"We are opposing — or considering — someone calling for murder, plain and simple. And murder is not satire, because we are talking about the murder of thousands of people before our very eyes.
'And freedom of expression should not be confused with licence to say anything — you cannot simply shout 'fire' in a crowded theatre because you want to.'
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