Anti-Israel band Kneecap branded ‘vile hatemongers’ in Parliament after ‘kill your local MP’ video

MPs from across the political spectrum lined up to condemn Northern Irish band Kneecap in the House of Commons this afternoon.

Recent recordings showed the band apparently praising Hamas and Hezbollah as well as saying “kill your local MP” and “the only good Tory is a dead Tory” at their concerts.

Responding to an Urgent Question on the matter, Dan Jarvis, the security minister, called the comments “utterly vile” and said: “Remarks like these are dangerous and irresponsible, and this government utterly rejects the views expressed by this group.”

However, he urged colleagues to be careful in their own interventions, reminding them that “the desire for immediate answers is often constrained by the obligation that we have as ministers and as Members of this House not to do or say anything that will interfere with what is a live police investigation”.

Last week, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the group’s comments had been referred to its counter-terrorism unit.

Jarvis – who refused to name the group because he didn’t want to “give them any further publicity” – went on to urge Glastonbury festival to reconsider whether it was appropriate that the Belfast rap trio perform at the festival.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis (Image: Parliament TV)[Missing Credit]

“It is not for government ministers to say who's going to appear at Glastonbury. It’s for the organisers of the festival. But there is, as I have said, an ongoing live police investigation. So, the government would urge the organisers of the Glastonbury festival to think very carefully about who is invited to perform there later this year”, Jarvis told MPs.

The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, started his response by paying tribute to the late MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, saying “they were brutally murdered doing their job on behalf of their constituents” and urged the government to appeal a decision to grant Kneecap taxpayer funding – a decision which his party leader, Kemi Badenoch, had attempted to block only to be overruled by a court.

Philp went on to encourage ministers to take robust action against any expression of support for terrorist organisations and that failure to do so could result in accusations of “two-tier justice”.

Jarvis responded that he thought it was strange “that a republican group seemingly opposed to the British government would want to receive funding from it” and reiterated that the government considers Hamas and Hezbollah proscribed terrorist organisation

 “Once an organisation is proscribed, it is a criminal offence to belong to, to invite support for, recklessly express support for or arrange a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation,” he said adding: “The government is crystal clear”.

Jarvis said he expected the police to use the full extent of the powers available to them should an offence be committed.

Labour MP David Taylor, who yesterday wrote to Glastonbury to urge them to drop the controversial group, also used the occasion to attack Jeremy Corbyn, who had previously posed for photos with its members and called them “inspiring” in 2023.

“Will he join me in condemning his appearance in a photograph with that group? And will he join me in calling on him to apologise for in a photo with that group”, he asked Jarvis in reference to the former Labour leader.

Meanwhile, the DUP’s Carla Lockhart announced she had written to US and Canadian authorities to urge them to cancel Kneecap’s visas, calling the group “hatemongers”.

“The term ‘kneecap’ is related to a violent criminal act. When you have a grouping who take this as their name, express a desire for MPs to be murdered and support prescribed organisations such Hezbollah and Hamas, you have to question why they've been awarded so much to UK taxpayers’ money”, she added.

In a statement on Monday night, the group denied that they supported Hamas or Hezbollah and said they "condemn all attacks on civilians", as well as apologising to the families of Cox and Amess.

However, referencing the emergence of the footage, they added: “Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria. 

"Suddenly, days after calling out the US administration at Coachella to applause and solidarity, there is an avalanche of outrage and condemnation by the political classes of Britain.

“The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power.”

The statement referred to the band’s performance at the Coachella festival, during which they projected the slogan “f*** Israel, free Palestine” onto their set and accused Israel of a genocide in which they claim the US and UK governments are complicit.