Well, we knew it would be a highly-charged affair. Kneecap, the Irish band who have courted controversy over the last few months, used their hotly contested platform at Glastonbury to fire back at Keir Starmer, after the Prime Minister said their appearance at the festival was ‘not appropriate’.
ALSO READ: Kneecap rapper Mo Chara arrives at Court wearing a keffiyeh
Kneecap have their say during contentious Glastonbury set
Kneecap have been extremely vocal in their support for Palestine, amid the ongoing conflict with Israel. They have fiercely insisted that Israeli forces are ‘committing a genocide’, and one member – Mo Chara – even went as far as to display a Hezbollah flag at a recent gig in London.
That act, however, has landed him in serious legal trouble. Hezbollah are proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK, and public displays of support for the group are classed as criminal offences. The group have also been accused of calling for the deaths of British MPs.
Chara has since appeared in court, accused of committing a terror offence. Speaking yesterday, the group branded the charges as ‘trumped up’, and even vowed to ‘start a riot’ during his next appearance in the dock in July. However, the band aren’t backing down any time soon.
‘F*** Keir Starmer’ – Kneecap chant defies PM
These factors prompted Starmer to issue his condemnation earlier this week, expressing his disapproval at Kneecap’s place on the bill. Not ones to take things lying down, the Belfast musicians fired back at the Labour leader, leading chants of ‘F*** Keir Starmer’ with thousands of fans.
Who is Bob Vylan? Artists blasted for anti-IDF chant
Another act also found themselves at the centre of a major backlash yesterday. Bob Vylan, a punk duo from London, has been accused of ‘crossing a line’ by the organisers of Glastonbury, after they sang chants of ‘death to the IDF’, while encouraging the audience to join in.
This has received universal condemnation from all ends of the political spectrum, with the likes of Kemi Badenoch and Wes Streeting describing the set as ‘appalling’. The Daily Mail also published a front-page splash on Sunday calling for the group’s arrest.
One member of Bob Vylan, however, does not appear to be fazed by the outcry…