Like thousands of others who are setting off to Glastonbury Festival this week, I’m getting ready to pack my tent, sleeping bag, toilet roll, and an array of festival outfits.
In fact, it will be my twentieth visit to Worthy Farm.
But among my bucket hats and raincoat – which I’m hoping I won’t need – will be my Palestine t-shirt and flag. I’ll be proudly wearing and waving them when I go to see Irish rappers Kneecap play the West Holts stage at 4pm this Saturday.
This is no matter how much it might annoy Keir Starmer and other politicians who think their appearance at the festival is ‘not appropriate’.
For those who missed the controversy, it all started when Kneecap made pro-Palestine statements at Coachella in April this year. Critics like Sharon Osbourne decried Kneecap’s set as ‘promoting terrorist organizations or spreading hate’.
Around the same time, resurfaced footage of a 2024 Kneecap gig in London caused controversy – with band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh currently on bail following a court appearance when he was charged with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah.
So when Keir Starmer was asked this weekend if he thought Kneecap should still play Glastonbury, he responded: ‘I don’t think that’s appropriate’.
As the band themselves put it on X: ‘You know what’s “not appropriate” Keir?! Arming a genocide…’
I couldn’t agree more.
So I’ll be waving my Palestine flag at most of the gigs that I catch over the weekend, just like I and hundreds of others did at last year’s Glastonbury.
At its heart, Glastonbury is political. For the Prime Minister, who should have enough on his plate, to try to say that any band performing is ‘not appropriate’, it’s laughable.
Every year, festival goers wear t-shirts and wave flags highlighting issues they feel strongly about, including racism, trans rights, climate justice, women’s reproductive rights, and safe routes for immigrants.
And this year, I imagine many more, in the crowds and on the stage, will call out the actions of controversial political figures, such as Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Freedom of speech and discussing social and political issues is a huge part of the festival, which hosts countless talks across the site.
Guest speakers this year include outspoken TV pundit Gary Lineker, Zarah Sultana MP, drag queen and model Bimini Bon Boulash, author and activist Reni Eddo-Lodge, political commentator Danny Price, fast fashion activist Venetia La Manna, political satirist and comedian Munya Chawawa, political journalist Ash Sarkar, and Palestine and Climate direct action group Youth Demand – to name just a few.
In my two decades of attending, I’ve never felt like the political content was ‘not appropriate.’
In fact, since 1992, the festival has partnered with Greenpeace and the organisation’s message at the festival this year is to highlight the ‘democratic right to protest and to call out the big polluters to stop drilling and start paying’.
With politicians trying to dictate which bands should play, that first point in particular seems timely.
Glastonbury and the right to voice your political beliefs go hand in hand – and have done since the festival’s inception in 1970, where there was a large ‘anti-Vietnam War’ crowd, at what was then the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival.
In 1981, the festival donated profits to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). while in 1984, the festival introduced the Green Fields – dedicated to environmental and social issues.
The festival has been part of the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign, the ‘I Count campaign’ – which highlighted the need to address climate change – and also the ‘White Ribbon Alliance’s Million Mums’ campaign – aimed at ending the needless deaths of women in childbirth.
It’s a big part of the festival, and a big part of the appeal for me.
In 2016, Blur frontman, Damon Albarn, claimed that ‘democracy has failed us’ after the Brexit results. He also made a surprise appearance at last year’s festival, expressing his support for Palestine and also talking about the upcoming US elections.
On top of that, the main Pyramid stage has seen powerful political speeches and performances from everyone from Jeremy Corbyn to David Attenborough and Stormzy to Kendrick Lamar.
So, for Keir Starmer to be weighing in and saying that it’s ‘not appropriate’ for Kneecap to perform makes no sense at all.
People might wonder why the Prime Minister of this country is even getting involved with who should be on the Glastonbury line-up. I know exactly why – because it’s a distraction from the real story: the thousands of people being slaughtered in Gaza.
A distraction from what I believe is the UK Government’s complicity in what is being described by humanitarian groups as a genocide. And a distraction from their refusal to fully ban arms sales to Israel or place serious sanctions on the state.
Instead, Keir Starmer is pointing the finger at a young band who stand firm to their beliefs and are calling out the atrocities that he won’t talk about.
So I’ll be attending Kneecap’s Glastonbury performance to show solidarity with them.
If that makes me ‘inappropriate’ – so be it.
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