Keir Starmer maintains position that Kneecap are “completely intolerable”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated that Kneecap are “completely intolerable” after the Irish trio’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh secured a definitive legal victory against the UK government on March 11th.
Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known by his stage name Mo Chara, faced a terrorism charge after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town in London in November 2024.
However, the case was initially thrown out in September after Kneecap’s legal team argued that Attorney General Richard Hermer hadn’t given his permission for the charge to be brought against Óg Ó hAnnaidh within the six-month time frame of the alleged offence occurring.
The government’s Crown Prosecution Service subsequently lodged an appeal against the decision, which was rejected on March 11th, as it was confirmed that Óg Ó hAnnaidh would not face a new trial.
Now, in a new interview with ITV News, Starmer has doubled down on his stance on the Irish band, stating, “Well, my views on Kneecap are very well known in relation to what they stand for and what they say, which is completely intolerable.”
Starmer, who was previously the head of the Crown Prosecution Service before being an MP in 2015, added, “I think the CPS were obviously subject to the High Court decision and they will be looking at the judgment very carefully.”
It comes after Starmer called upon Glastonbury to remove Kneecap from the festival last summer, telling The Sun that “I don’t think that’s appropriate” for them to perform.
Kneecap still performed at Glastonbury, causing the West Holts area to be shut due to it reaching a capacity crowd. During the set, they led the crowd through a chant of “Fuck Keir Starmer“.
After the appeal was rejected, Óg Ó hAnnaidh said of the long-running case at a press conference held in Belfast, “This is bigger than us – whatever kind of stress that we felt, it’s minimal compared to the stress put on the families in Gaza.”
He also pledged to “continue to use whatever platform we have to talk about Gaza” and said, “We don’t give a fuck about the repercussions anymore”.
Kneecap’s new album, Fenian, is set for release on April 24th, 2026, and promises to be their response to the legal challenges that have engulfed the band’s Mo Chara over the last 12 months.
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