Badenoch: BBC should not show ‘extremist' Kneecap at Glastonbury
Kemi Badenoch said the BBC should not broadcast Kneecap 'propaganda' at Glastonbury Festival next week.
The Tory leader said on X that the BBC 'should not be rewarding extremism' by showing the Irish republican rap group's set.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, a Kneecap member, appeared in court accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah while saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at a gig in November last year.
Reacting to a story in The Times that claimed the BBC had not banned the group from its Glastonbury coverage, Mrs Badenoch tweeted: 'The BBC should not be showing Kneecap propaganda.
'One Kneecap band member is currently on bail, charged under the Terrorism Act.
'As a publicly funded platform, the BBC should not be rewarding extremism.'
Mrs Badenoch has previously called for the group to be banned from Glastonbury.
And last year, Kneecap won a discrimination case against the Government in Belfast High Court after Mrs Badenoch tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was a minister.
Kneecap took aim at Mrs Badenoch in their latest single, The Recap, released just before their headline set at London's Wide Awake festival in May.
The song mocked her attempts to block their arts funding and the Conservative Party's general election loss.
On Wednesday, Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates Naoise Ó Cairealláin and J Ó Dochartaigh at Westminster magistrates' court in 'Free Mo Chara' T-shirts.
During the proceedings, the court heard the 27-year-old is 'well within his rights' to voice his opinions on Israel and Palestine, but the alleged incident at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, is a 'wholly different thing'.
Ó hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing at the same court on Aug 20.
Following the hearing, the rapper said: 'For anybody going to Glastonbury, you can see us there at 4pm on the Saturday.
'If you can't be there we'll be on the BBC, if anybody watches the BBC. We'll be at Wembley in September.
'But most importantly: free, free Palestine.'
The charge came after a counter-terrorism police investigation after the historical gig footage came to light, which also allegedly shows the group calling for the deaths of MPs.
In April, Kneecap apologised last month to the families of murdered MPs but said footage of the incident had been 'exploited and weaponised'.
In an initial post in response to the charge, Kneecap said: '14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us.
'We deny this 'offence' and will vehemently defend ourselves, this is political policing, this is a carnival of distraction.
'We are not the story, genocide is, as they profit from genocide, they use an 'anti-terror law' against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage. A charge not serious enough to even warrant their crown court, instead a court that doesn't have a jury. What's the objective?
'To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare speak out.
'Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries. Then, like now, they claim justification.
'The IDF units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists, the whole world can see it.'
A BBC spokesman said: 'As the broadcast partner, the BBC will be bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organisers.
'While the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines. Decisions about our output will be made in the lead-up to the festival.'
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