
Kneecap chants ‘f*** Keir Starmer' in another foul rant just days after sparking police probe at Glastonbury
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
RAPPERS Kneecap called out Keir Starmer for saying the group should be banned from Glastonbury Festival.
The hip-hop group, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, spoke at London's Finsbury Park today - a week after performing at Glastonbury Festival.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
6
Kneecap chanted 'f*** Starmer' on stage in London's Finsbury Park on Saturday
Credit: Getty
6
'They tried to stop us playing Glastonbury, and they f*****g couldn't,' Kneecap said
Credit: Getty
6
A big crowd attended the gig
Credit: PA
6
PM Keir Starmer said the Irish trio should be banned from performing at Glastonbury
Credit: Reuters
It came after the PM told The Sun on Sunday last month that the Irish trio should be banned from the music festival after a band member was charged with a terror offence.
Rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh told the crowd yesterday: 'Keir Starmer gave an interview with The Sun saying we shouldn't be playing Glastonbury - so f**k Keir Starmer.'
'F**k Keir Starmer - you're just a s**t Jeremy Corbyn.'
Bandmate Naoise O Caireallain added: 'We appreciate all of this f*****g mad energy that we are getting in Finsbury Park.
'Look, they tried to stop us playing Glastonbury, and they f*****g couldn't.
'They tried to stop us playing in Cornwall, and they f*****g couldn't stop that either."
Sir Keir Starmer told The Sun last month that it was 'not appropriate' for the Irish group to cash in at the festival.
Og O hAnnaidh, 27, who goes by the stage name Mo Chara, appeared in court last month, accused of displaying a flag in support of banned terror group Hezbollah at a gig.
He was bailed until later in the summer — leaving him free to play at Glastonbury.
Asked by The Sun on Sunday if he thought Kneecap should play at Glastonbury, the PM said: 'No I don't.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls for Glastonbury to axe Kneecap from the line-up
'I think we need to come down really clearly on this. I won't say too much, because there's a court case on, but I don't think that's appropriate.'
During Kneecap's performance at Glastonbury, the group took to the stage and led a "free Palestine" chant before leading five chants against the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, Bobby Vylan - frontman of English punk-rap duo Bob Vylan - chanted "death, death to the IDF" and other alleged anti-Semitic slurs on the West Holts stage last Saturday.
The BBC were slammed for broadcasting performance on live TV, including by PM Keir Starmer himself.
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed on Monday that cops are investigating Kneecap and Bob Vylan after video and audio footage was examined.
Posting on X, the force said: "Video footage and audio from Bob Vylan and Kneecap's performances at Glastonbury Festival has been reviewed.
"Following the completion of that assessment process we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken.
"A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation.
"This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage."
The force confirmed that it had received a "large amount" of contact from across the world about the controversial performances.
The Sun has contacted Avon and Somerset Police.
6
Fans during Kneecap's gig in London
Credit: AP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scotsman
10 minutes ago
- Scotsman
UK Government reset of devolved relations has 'failed', as SNP insiders accuse Labour of 'bad, old habits'
Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The promised reset between the UK and Scottish governments has failed, SNP officials have claimed, as Labour ministers were accused of consistently 'undermining devolved relations'. A senior Scottish Government source has hit out at the Labour UK government, saying they had seen no improvement in intergovernmental relations since last summer's general election. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad They said the failures to make changes include 'repeatedly cancelling meetings, not providing documents, not sharing information and presenting things as a fait accompli'. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and First Minister John Swinney. | Scott Heppell/Press Association Other examples include the UK government agreeing a new fisheries deal with the EU without consulting with Scottish ministers in advance, despite fisheries being a devolved matter. It is understood SNP ministers are now seeking assurances this is a 'one-off' after claims there have been further instances of Westminster trying to legislate in devolved areas. The Scotsman was also told Scottish officials were only told about a meeting on a Monday morning with the UK Telecoms Minister Chris Bryant 'late on Friday', meaning they did not have sufficient time to prepare. The meeting was on the creative industries strategy, but the documents were then published online half an hour before the meeting with Mr Bryant. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The source told The Scotsman: 'We were told there would be a reset and we have worked hard to make that a reality, but we have now run out of road because there has been no reset. 'It is comparable to the bad, old habits of the last UK Conservative government, which we had an appalling relationship with. 'It is simply not working.' The source said this was now a 'Cabinet-level issue', claiming the Scottish Government was 'the grown-ups in the room' when it comes to dealing with the UK government. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In response, a UK Government source said: 'Whoever this senior Scottish Government source is, they appear to be contradicting the comments of John Swinney himself, who hailed relations as 'incomparably better' compared to the Tory government. 'The UK government has indeed legislated in devolved areas with the Scottish Government's express consent - on better rights in the private rented sector, ensuring ScotRail is kept in public hands, keeping young people safe online, as well as tougher rules on knife sales. 'Both governments are working together on issues like Grangemouth, Alexander Dennis and the clean energy mission. 'This government has reset the relationship between the UK government and the Scottish Government. That doesn't mean we will agree on everything, but where we do agree we should work together. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The vast majority of Scots just want to see their two governments work together to get things done, and will take a dim view of people complaining they don't have enough time to prepare for a meeting rather than get on with it.' Mr Swinney said in May the relationship between the UK and Scottish governments was "deteriorating", with his comment coming in the wake of Sir Keir Starmer announcing a fresh trade deal with the EU. The First Minister said at the time: "It does appear that the Scottish fishing industry has once again been negotiated away by the UK government, demonstrating that Scotland is an afterthought for the UK government.'


Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Can Britain survive four more years of Labour?
One year on from his landslide election victory, Sir Keir Starmer's plans are in disarray. His Chancellor is in tears. His MPs are in open rebellion. But most importantly outside Westminster, his promises to restore growth in the economy have come to nought, despite extremely expensive plans to force a rebound. Here are the charts that show why the optimism of last summer – when Labour's victory supposedly replaced the inept Tories with 'grown-ups' – has withered. Growth Since the shock of the pandemic lockdowns and the boost from reopening the economy, GDP has only grown in fits and starts. In last year's election campaign, the Conservatives made much of the 'gangbusters' growth of the first half of 2024. But that rapidly petered out. The opening months of this year also saw a brief growth spurt which came to an end even more quickly – the economy shrank again in April. Looking through the short-term bumps to compare GDP with its level a year ago, there are few signs of any sustained recovery. The economy is not even 1pc bigger now than it was 12 months ago. The outlook for living standards is not much better. Productivity – which measures the average output created for each hour worked – has been in freefall for the past two years. Last year it dropped by 0.8pc, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), double the 0.4pc fall suffered in 2023. Those represent the biggest drops since the financial crisis. Higher productivity over the longer term is the key to sustained higher wages, lower inflation and economic growth, so the outlook is extraordinarily bleak. Inflation Sir Keir came to power after the cost of living crisis pummelled the British public. Living costs are up by more than 25pc since the eve of the pandemic and essentials are up even more. Groceries cost more than 30pc more than they did just over five years ago. Electricity and gas bills are up 57pc and 73pc respectively. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and her colleagues thought they had got spectacularly lucky last year, as inflation fell back to the Bank of England's 2pc target in the month before their election victory. But they are receiving little credit for keeping a lid on living costs: 2pc inflation still means prices are rising, not returning to anything like pre-Covid levels. And worse still, inflation only stayed at target fleetingly. Consumer prices are now up by 3.4pc on the year and the Bank of England expects a further acceleration in the months to come. Many of the factors driving inflation higher are caused by the Government, from the VAT raid on private school fees to prices set by regulators such as water bills. The Bank of England fears this will lead to a fresh wage-price spiral driving inflation up further – hence cutting interest rates only very cautiously, sustaining the high borrowing costs facing Britain's indebted households. Unemployment Andrew Bailey, the Bank's Governor, is waiting for more signs the jobs market is weakening. That would ease concerns about a fresh spiral of inflation. But it is also bad news for workers. The Governor has flagged up the signs that the labour market is indeed softening. Unemployment is up at 4.5pc and is set to rise to 5pc, the Bank forecasts. That is a level last seen in lockdown, and threatens to take Britain back to 2015 when the economy was still shaking off the hangover from the financial crisis. There are other signs of workers suffering too. Bailey says the cost of the Chancellor's £25bn raid on employers' National Insurance contributions (NICs) – the biggest chunk of her record-breaking tax-raising Budget last October – appears to be falling largely on workers, in the form of less hiring and lower pay rises. Sure enough the number of job vacancies in the economy is falling firmly below pre-Covid levels. After the post-pandemic hiring frenzy, which pushed vacancies up to 1.3m, the number of posts now available has fallen by more than 40pc. The ONS found 736,000 positions on offer in the three months to May. Business confidence There is a bitter irony in this. A year ago, bosses cheered on the election of Sir Keir and his party. The economic confidence index compiled by the Institute of Directors soared to levels not seen since the rollout of Covid vaccines promised to put an end to the pandemic lockdowns. Yet within months sentiment was in freefall, plumbing depths as low as those seen in the early months of the pandemic and in the crisis after Liz Truss's catastrophic mini-Budget. The cause? Labour's mismanagement of the economy. By hitting companies with a NICs raid, Reeves left businesses feeling betrayed. Labour's manifesto promised not to raise the tax. The Government claimed that its pledge only applied to the minority of NICs paid directly by workers, not to the much bigger chunk paid by their employers. This was news to companies, which had fallen for Reeves's charms prior to election day. Low confidence means less hiring, less investment and less of the vital growth and prosperity which Labour had vowed to restore. Debt The record-breaking, manifesto-bending tax increases which shook the economy so badly were at least supposed to serve a purpose: getting the public finances back on the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, even they were not enough to fund the Government's spending plans. The Chancellor also changed her fiscal rules to justify additional borrowing at the same time. Even if everything went to plan, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated her plans would add hundreds of billions of pounds to the national debt compared to their forecasts under the Conservatives. By the end of the decade the number-crunchers expect the debt to stand at £3.4 trillion, up from the £3.1 trillion previously estimated for 2028-29. Yet slower growth, about-turns on reforms, stubborn borrowing costs on that mounting debt and fresh promises on military spending all mean Reeves is yet again facing a black hole in the finances. That means more tax rises are anticipated, whether stealthily in the form of frozen tax thresholds or overtly with higher rates - all on top of the record tax burden already weighing down the private sector. More tears are on the way, and not just from the Chancellor.


Spectator
25 minutes ago
- Spectator
Ireland will regret its planned Israeli settlements trade ban
If Ireland's foreign affairs minister expected plaudits from EU leaders for the republic's looming ban on Israeli settlement goods, he was sorely disappointed. Ireland, Simon Harris pontificated in Brussels, 'is the only country in the entire European Union that has published any legislation ever in relation to banning trade with the occupied Palestinian territories, but it's pretty lonely out there.' Frankly, this is hardly surprising when you take your country on a solo run into perilous economic and diplomatic territory. The Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (PIGS) will ban goods produced, or partly produced, in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It applies to every type of goods, from dates and avocados, manufactured goods, raw materials to natural resources. It is purely symbolic, representing €1.5 million (£1.29 billion) of the €4.36 billion (£3.88 billion) trade between Ireland and Israel. But the penalties are draconian, the likely diplomatic and economic fallout ignored, and no thought was given to the many Palestinians employed by Israeli settlement companies whose livelihoods may be jeopardised by this ban. Well, it is the symbolism that counts. When enacted, Irish, UK and other citizens ordinarily resident in Ireland could face a five-year jail term, a €125,000 (£107,000) fine or both should they buy a string of beads or a bottle of holy water in the old city of East Jerusalem and turn up at Dublin airport with the offending items in their backpacks. Incredibly, the Bill has extraterritorial effect – although quite how this will be enforced is anyone's guess. Its astonishing implications have never been explored. The PIGS Bill is the renamed Occupied Territories Bill published by independents in the Irish parliament in 2018. But since October 2023, multifarious radical groups have effectively hijacked the legislation and are using it as a trojan horse to dismantle the entire EU-Israel trade agreement worth €46 billion (£39.6 billion). On the streets, mainly peaceful protesters demanding an end to Israeli trade march in lockstep with extremists carrying Hezbollah flags chanting 'let's go bomb Tel Aviv' and 'burn the settlers to the ground'. And nobody bats an eyelid. Since 2018, three attorneys general have warned the government that enacting this legislation would be at 'substantial risk to the state' because it violates EU law on international trade, free movement and customs rules by imposing a trade ban unilaterally. As one seasoned political correspondent put it, there's a reason this bill has been left hanging around since 2018: 'It stank'. The PIGS Bill aims to get around infringing EU law by framing the legislation on the advisory opinion published by the International Court of Justice last July urging states not to trade or invest in the occupied territories. Although not legally binding, the opinion allowed the government enough wriggle room to push the bill forward. Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin pressed pause momentarily when he got an earful from powerful Jewish organisations during his annual St Patrick's Day trip to Washington, but it's now full steam ahead in Ireland's war on dates and avocados. There remains, however, extreme nervousness about the bill in government and the likely diplomatic and economic fallout. One government figure described it as 'economic treason'. Documents have now emerged showing that John McCarthy, chief economist in the department of finance, raised the prospect of conflict between the state's diplomatic and economic policies. The ban 'might pose problems for businesses based in Ireland, including multinationals, which do not usually operate different regimes between Ireland and other EU countries,' he warned. Ireland acts as the gateway to Europe for US companies. They directly employ 211,000 people in the country and indirectly support a further 168,000 jobs. As things stand, 38 US states penalise businesses that boycott Israeli trade, which puts Ireland on a direct collision course with American multinationals based there. So far, the bill only applies to goods but the clamour to include services is getting louder. If services are included, companies such as Airbnb – which has its European headquarters in Dublin – may have a problem. And what of security software reportedly developed by an Israeli software firm and used by Irish banks? That could prove interesting. Ireland's head of police is none too happy either after spending €500,000 (£430,000) on the Israel-made technology 'Cellebrite', a vital tool for solving violent crime by extracting data from computers. Gardai commissioner Drew Harris said: It's a tool that we need to properly investigate crime which has some form of cyber or digital element. When you look at the detections we are getting, the crimes we're preventing and the convictions that there are, we'd be very reluctant to step away from a very important tool. All this is being put at risk for a legislative mess that will do nothing to help the Palestinian people. But symbolism matters. This will be the first piece of legislation in Europe since 1945 that will criminalise trade with Jewish businesses. Ireland will be the toast of Hamas yet again as its anti-Israel stance crosses another red line. Other European states are not exactly clamouring to jump aboard this particular bandwagon, but Harris has made clear Ireland is happy to go it alone. 'In the absence of Europe moving together, we're going to go ahead with our own domestic legislation', he said. Of course he is. This is a man who reopened an Irish embassy in Teheran and disinvite the Israeli ambassador from his party conference, all the while feting the Iranian one. Ireland is the most pro-Palestine state in the western world; this is the hill it is choosing to die on. But falling foul of EU law is the least of its problems. US President Donald Trump already has Ireland in his sights over its preferential 12.5 per cent corporation tax. Given the US President's unwavering support for Israel, is the Irish government prepared for the cold winds that will come from Washington if it panders to demands from keffiyeh-covered stormtroopers to cut trade ties with Israel? We will soon find out.