Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accuses Kneecap of “openly glorifying evil terror groups”
The leader of the UK Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, recently posted on X, lashing out at Irish trio Kneecap.
Badenoch’s statement was in response to a video of Kneecap’s November 2024 concert at O2 Kentish Town Forum, London, which has resurfaced online. In the clip, they appear to support Hamas, the group’s Mo Chara can be heard seemingly shouting, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” Badenoch shared the video and slammed Kneecap. “Perhaps now Labour see Kneecap openly glorifying evil terror groups, they will apologise for rolling over. But I doubt it,” the politician wrote.
Badenoch has had a run-in with Kneecap in the past. In December 2023, Kneecap was included in the Music Export Growth Scheme, which aims to promote British bands internationally and had previously been signed off by the BPI. However, an intervention from the Department for Business and Trade, headed up by Badenoch, stopped Kneecap from receiving funds.
Kneecap won the legal battle as it was deemed that the British government discriminated against the group by stopping this funding.
Following Kneecap’s win, a spokesperson for Badenoch said the intervention was justified because of Kneecap’s desire to see a united Ireland. The spokesperson stated that Badenoch shouldn’t offer grants “to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself.”
She opened her latest tweet referencing this legal battle. “In govt I blocked Kneecap getting taxpayer funding. Labour didn’t contest the legal case the band brought and they walked away with £14,250 of OUR money,” she stated.
The money they were awarded went straight to charity: £7,125 to ‘Glór Na Móna’ in Ballymurphy and £7,125 to ‘RCity Belfast’ on the Shankill Road.
While the case was ongoing, during an interview with Far Out last yer, Kneecap’s DJ Provaí said, “We pay taxes to the United Kingdom against our will, and by that idea, we shouldn’t have to pay taxes if we’re not able to benefit from the taxes that we pay.”
In a statement on November 29th, following the legal victory, they shared, “For us, this action was never about £14,250; it could have been 50 pence. The motivation was equality. This was an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday Agreement itself, and an attack on Kneecap and our way of expressing ourselves.”
Kneecap have also recently used their Coachella set to show their support for Palestine amid the ongoing war with Israel. Sharon Osbourne has since called for their US visas to be revoked in light of the act.
Though both are explicitly referenced in the post, neither Kneecap nor the Labour Party have yet responded to Badenoch’s comment.
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