10 Downing Avenue have rejected Kneecap‘s assertion on violence and MPs, calling it “half-hearted” and saying “they need to apologise”.
Late final night time (April 28), Kneecap took to X/Twitter to share a press release denying their alleged help of Hamas, Hezbollah and selling violence in opposition to MPs, saying: “Allow us to be unequivocal: we don’t, and have by no means, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all assaults on civilians, all the time. It’s by no means okay. We all know this greater than anybody, given our nation’s historical past.
“We additionally reject any suggestion that we’d search to incite violence in opposition to any MP or particular person. Ever,” they continued. “An extract of footage, intentionally taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it had been a name to motion.”
It adopted the Irish rap trio going through calls from politicians to take away them from a number of upcoming pageant dates – together with Glastonbury and TRNSMT – after it was revealed earlier this week that counter-terror police are assessing footage from the band’s London present final November.
Footage from that present seems to depict a member of Kneecap yelling out “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”, whereas displaying a Hezbollah flag. Each Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed terror organisations, as listed by the UK authorities – it’s also an offence beneath the Terrorism Act 2000 to “invite help for a proscribed organisation”.
KNEECAP STATEMENT:
They need you to imagine phrases are extra dangerous than genocide.
Institution figures, determined to silence us, have combed via tons of of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of phrases from months or years in the past to fabricate ethical… pic.twitter.com/qZht5532Zf
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 28, 2025
Stories then revealed that police have since begun assessing a second video from one in every of their gigs, which purportedly exhibits the group calling for the dying of Conservative MPs. In response, Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead David Taylor and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney have made public requires the removing of Kneecap from a number of summer season pageant performances.
The Jo Cox basis, launched in recognition of the Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016, additionally shared a press release on X/Twitter condemning the band, writing that they’d “clearly” crossed a line “from political expression to inciting violence”.
Equally, the daughter of late Conservative MP David Amess, who was murdered in 2021, advised the BBC she was “gobsmacked on the stupidity of anyone or a bunch of individuals being within the public eye and saying such harmful, violent rhetoric”, including that the band ought to make apologies to her “and each different person who has been offended by this”.
Right now (April 29) 10 Downing Avenue have responded to Kneecap’s assertion, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying: “They need to apologise. I believe you’ve seen what they’ve stated, I believe it’s half-hearted,” per LBC.
They go on to say: “We fully reject within the strongest attainable phrases the feedback that they’ve made, significantly in relation to MPs and intimidation in addition to clearly the state of affairs within the Center East.
“It’s proper that the police are trying into these movies.”
Nevertheless, Kneecap did apologise of their preliminary assertion, immediately addressing the households of Cox and Amess, saying: “We ship our heartfelt apologies, we by no means supposed to trigger you damage.”
Elsewhere of their current tackle, Kneecap went on to label the “distortion” of their messages as “absurd” and “a clear effort to element the true dialog”. As a substitute, they counsel that “actual anger and outrage needs to be directed in direction of” the “highly effective in Britain” who’ve “abetted slaughter and famine,” claiming “the British authorities continues to provide arms to Israel, even after the scores of NHS medical doctors warned Keir Starmer in August that kids had been being systematically executed with sniper pictures to the pinnacle.”
Doubling down on their stance, they wrote: “Kneecap’s message has all the time been – and stays – one in every of love, inclusion, and hope. Because of this our music resonates throughout generations, international locations, courses and cultures and has introduced tons of of 1000’s of individuals at our gigs. No smear marketing campaign will change that.”
“The actual crimes usually are not in our performances; the true crimes are the silence and complicity of these in energy. Disgrace on them,” they wrote to finish their tackle.
To their level on being anti-violence, the group’s Mo Chara stated the next of their NME The Cover story in June 2024: “Clearly I can’t converse for what occurred earlier than me,” sharing his sympathy for what previous generations of Irishmen went via. “However we don’t help violence as that doesn’t make any sense any extra.”
KNEECAP STATEMENT:
Since our statements at Coachella — exposing the continuing genocide in opposition to the Palestinian individuals — now we have confronted a coordinated smear marketing campaign.
For over a 12 months, now we have used our exhibits to name out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in conflict crimes.… pic.twitter.com/mBojb5QBOP
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 25, 2025
In response to information of the counter-terrorism investigation, Kneecap shared a submit on X of a graphic which learn, “18 Months Of Genocide Footage Not Below Investigation By UK Counter-Terror Police”, with the caption “some details.”
An anti-Tory sentiment additionally emerged at Kneecap’s controversial units at Coachella this month, the primary of which noticed them main the gang in a chant of “Maggie’s in a field”, referring to the late Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The Coachella performances led to calls from Sharon Osbourne to revoke their working visas. The 2 units on the pageant additionally reportedly left organisers “blindsided” attributable to their overtly political nature, together with displaying pro-Palestine projections on the display screen behind them and inspiring the viewers to chant “Free, Free Palestine”.
Kneecap have since known as the controversy “a coordinated smear marketing campaign” in opposition to their efforts in “exposing the continuing genocide in opposition to the Palestinian individuals”.
“For over a 12 months, now we have used our exhibits to name out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in conflict crimes. The current assaults in opposition to us, largely emanating from the US, are based mostly on deliberate distortions and falsehoods,” they stated, including that they’re “taking motion in opposition to a number of of those malicious efforts”.
“The explanation Kneecap is being focused is straightforward — we’re telling the reality, and our viewers is rising,” the assertion learn. “These attacking us wish to silence criticism of a mass slaughter. They weaponize false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and supply cowl for genocide,” citing “huge numbers of Jewish individuals” who’re “outraged by this genocide simply as we’re”. “What we care about is that governments of the international locations we carry out in are enabling among the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes — and we is not going to keep silent. No media spin will change this,” they wrote.
At time of writing, the band’s appearances at Glastonbury, TRNSMT and different European festivals stay intact. Elsewhere yesterday, their big Belfast present with Fontaines D.C. had bought out in simply over half an hour, regardless of calls from the DUP to have it axed.
