Irish rap trio Kneecap made their feelings towards Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer clear tonight as they led the crowd in angry chants.
Tonight, the group played their largest gig to date, taking to the stage in Finsbury Park, London, in front of 45,000 people.
They were supporting Irish band Fontaines DC, whose frontman, Grian Chatten, joined to perform their collaboration, Better Way To Live.
Fans watched on as Kneecap came out in front of a screen that said, ‘Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.’
And in typical Kneecap fashion, they weren’t shy in expressing their disdain for certain politicians throughout the night either.
On the mic, they vowed that next month will mark ‘the second time Kneecap have beat the British Government in court’.
People then echoed the Belfast group’s chants when they repeated the ‘F**k Keir Starmer’ and ‘You’re just a s**t Jeremy Corbyn’ comments made at Glastonbury the previous weekend.
The group also stated that ‘it’s not the English people we don’t like; it’s the English government,’ following the PM’s attempts to have Kneecap removed from the Glasto lineup this year.
Starmer previously claimed that he didn’t believe it would be ‘appropriate’ for Kneecap to perform at Worthy Farm, given that Liam O’Hanna, who performs as Mo Chara, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, charged with a terror offence. He will return next month.
In response to the Labour leader’s calls for a ban, Kneecap shared a screenshot from his interview, writing: ‘You know what’s “not appropriate” Keir?! Arming a f***ing genocide… [sic]’.
Also on stage tonight, Kneecap addressed their recent legal woes in a jovial manner: ‘It’s nice to be back in London and not be up in court.’
‘It’s been a mad few weeks, lads, Jesus f***ing Christ. Look at the f***ing state of us,’ added O’Hanna.
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Meanwhile, fellow member Naoise O Caireallain, who uses the stage name Moglai Bap, said, ‘If anyone’s free on the 20th of August, you wanna go to the court and support Mo Chara’ before shouting, ‘Free Mo Chara, free, free Mo Chara’.
Wearing a keffiyeh, O’Hanna responded: ‘I appreciate it, the 20th of August is going to be the second time Kneecap have beat the British Government in court – in their own court, on their own terms—and we’re going to beat them for the second time.
‘I tell you what, there is nothing like embarrassing the British Government.’
Last year, Kneecap won a discrimination challenge over a decision by former business secretary Kemi Badenoch to refuse them a £14,250 funding award.
The UK Government conceded it was ‘unlawful’ after the band launched legal action claiming the decision to refuse the grant discriminated against them on grounds of nationality and political opinion.
It was agreed that the £14k+ sum would be paid by the Government to the group.
Furthermore, amid this evening’s performance, the group intermittently broke off the mosh pits and raucous crowd by addressing the war in Gaza, which is a recurring theme of their shows.
O’Hanna said: ‘It’s usually around this point of the gig that we decide to talk about what’s happening in Palestine.
‘I understand that it’s almost inhumane that I’m thinking of new things to say on stage during a genocide for sound bites.
‘It’s beyond words now, like, we always used to say, obviously they’re being bombed from the skies with nowhere to go, but it’s beyond that now.
‘They’ve been being starved for a few months on end, and not only that, the areas that they have set up to collect aid and food have turned into killing fields, and they’re killing hundreds a day trying to collect food.’
He continued: ‘It’s beyond words, but again, we played in Plymouth last night to 750 people, and we did the same thing, so it doesn’t matter how big or small our audience is; Kneecap will always use the platform for talking about this.’
O Caireallain had said earlier in the gig: ‘They can try and silence us, they can try and stop us, but we’re not going to stop talking about Palestine—as long as there’s a genocide happening in Palestine, we’re going to keep talking about it, and yous are going to keep talking about it, and they can’t stop us.’
The UN human rights office has recorded 613 killings near humanitarian convoys and at aid distribution points in Gaza run by an Israeli-backed American organisation since it began operations in late May.
Kneecap’s impassioned pro-Palestine speeches this weekend come after the launch of an investigation into their Glastonbury set by Avon and Somerset Police.
Also involved in a probe is Bob Vylan, whose performance saw singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34, lead crowds in chants of ‘Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)’.
Directly after the duo’s set, Kneecap also performed on the West Holts Stage, where they chanted ‘Free Palestine’.
Currently, footage is being reviewed by an appointed senior detective to investigate whether comments made by either act amounted to a criminal offence.
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