Organisers of Glastonbury should “think very carefully” about who performs at this year’s festival, a Home Office minister said, following calls for Kneecap to be removed from the line-up.
Conservative former minister Mark Francois said it would be “unconscionable” for the Irish rap trio to perform at the festival, after video emerged of one member allegedly saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said MPs should be able to perform their duties safely and without fear as he condemned the comments in the Commons.
Responding to an urgent question on the issue, he described the group’s remarks as “dangerous and irresponsible”.
Mr Jarvis said he would not “interfere with what is a live police investigation”, but added: “The safety and security of members of this House and all those who serve in elected office is an issue to which I attach the utmost seriousness, as does the Home Secretary, and as does Mr Speaker.
“Elected representatives at all levels and across all parties, must be able to perform their duties safely and without fear.”
The Metropolitan Police is assessing the footage, along with a video clip from another concert in November 2024 in which a member of the band appeared to shout “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” – groups which are banned as terrorist organisations in the UK.
Kneecap has issued an apology in which the group addressed the families of Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, saying “we never intended to cause you hurt”.
Labour MP Ms Cox was stabbed and shot in 2016 while Conservative Sir David was stabbed to death in 2021.
Mr Francois branded Kneecap’s apology as “crocodile tears” and repeated calls to “examine potential failures by Prevent” in relation to the death of Sir David Amess, as part of the Southport inquiry.
Speaking on Tuesday, he said: “So does the Home Secretary agree it would be unconscionable for Kneecap to appear, at least whilst the police inquiry is underway? Kneecap should surely be barred today, to be crystal clear, does the Government agree with that or not?”
He added: “Kneecap have now offered a crocodile tears apology to Katie Amess, haven’t that family been through enough already?
“So as it’s within the Home Secretary’s gift, will she now seriously reconsider their request to examine potential failures by Prevent, which may have contributed to David’s death via the auspices of the Southport inquiry? Isn’t that the least we could do?”
In his response, Mr Jarvis said he purposely did not name Kneecap in his initial comments and urged MPs “not to give them any further publicity by naming them”.
He added: “It is not for Government ministers to say who is 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 at the Glastonbury Festival to think very carefully about who is invited to perform there later this year.”
He continued: “We have published the Prevent learning review to ensure that there is public scrutiny and transparency over the perpetrator’s dealings with Prevent, we will also publish the finding from Lord Anderson’s review.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the comments made by Kneecap at the gig in November 2023 were “evil” and the band were “attacking democracy itself”.
Mr Philp asked why the Government backed down from the legal challenge against Kneecap being awarded more than £14,000 of public funds, and said if evidence shows Kneecap broke the law with support for Hamas and Hezbollah, they should be prosecuted.
“If he’s not willing to do that now, as the Government did last summer, he does risk the perception of two-tier justice,” Mr Philp said.
Mr Jarvis replied: “We don’t think individuals expressing the views that we’ve heard should be receiving taxpayer funding, I think that is a non-controversial thing to say, and the Secretary of State for DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) said yesterday – officials are reviewing the music export growth scheme in light of the comments that have emerged.
“I’d also add, and he may or may not agree with this, I think he probably will, that it does seem strange to me and I’m sure to other members of this House, that a republican group, seemingly opposed to the British Government in the first place, would want to receive funding from it. I find that baffling.”
He added: “The Government is again crystal clear, support for proscribed organisations is wholly unacceptable.
“And where an offence has been committed, the Government trusts that the police will use the full extent of the offences available to them.”
