It is a dark day for Britain’s democracy when an Irish Republican group, Kneecap, openly and deliberately calls for the murder of Members of Parliament—and yet remains not only unpunished, but is scheduled to perform on one of the nation’s largest public stages, supported by taxpayers’ money no less.
The Irish republican group Kneecap has long flirted with controversy, but its recent video—which reportedly features the phrase “Kill your local MP”—crosses a line so severe, it ought to have triggered immediate and unequivocal condemnation across all parts of government, and decisive action by law enforcement.
Instead, we are told by the Metropolitan Police that the matter has merely been referred to the counter-terrorism internet referral unit “for assessment.” That statement should chill every elected official and every law-abiding citizen. For what, precisely, is there to assess? There can be no legitimate context in which an exhortation to kill an elected representative can be justified, misunderstood, or waved away as art. This is not satire. This is not subversion. This is incitement, plain and simple.
One is left to wonder: how long does such an “assessment” need to take? The video exists. The words are clear. The threat is unambiguous. A country that routinely arrests people for social media posts now appears paralysed when faced with direct and dangerous incitement against MPs. In recent years, two sitting MPs—Jo Cox and Sir David Amess—have been murdered. That alone should put any such rhetoric far beyond the bounds of public tolerance.
Yet, the situation becomes more troubling when one considers the government’s own actions—or rather, its staggering inaction. It has now come to light that during the last Parliament, Kneecap applied for a £14,000 grant from public funds. The application was rightly blocked by Kemi Badenoch, the then-Minister and now Member for North West Essex. She acted with common sense and moral clarity. But what followed is utterly inexplicable.
Kneecap appealed, alleging “discrimination” because of the rejection—an appeal that the incoming Labour government, astonishingly, chose not to fight. The government’s rationale? That opposing the appeal was “not in the public interest.” What twisted interpretation of “public interest” is this? Since when did pandering to extremist voices and allowing the open vilification of elected officials serve any public good?
This is not merely a matter of bad optics or poor judgment. It represents a profound failure of moral courage. Which minister, precisely, was responsible for signing off on this surrender? Why did the government back down in the face of a group that openly incites violence? These are questions the Home Secretary must answer immediately, for the public deserves nothing less than full transparency when lives could be at stake.
As if that were not enough, we now learn that Kneecap is still scheduled to perform at Glastonbury this summer. Glastonbury, it should be noted, received approximately £1.5 million in taxpayer subsidy during the Covid pandemic. Should public funds—past, present, or future—ever be associated with a platform for a group that calls for violence against elected officials?
The answer is not merely no—it is a thunderous, unqualified absolutely not. The notion that such a performance might go ahead while a police inquiry (however sluggish) is under way is unconscionable. Any event organiser with even a shred of responsibility would act now to bar Kneecap from the lineup. The government must say so in no uncertain terms. Enough of the waffle and hedging. Do we, as a society, stand with those who uphold the law—or with those who glorify violence and chaos?
The answer should be easy. But this entire episode reveals a deep and growing rot within the political class, where fear of appearing insensitive or “discriminatory” now trumps even the basic duty to protect life and uphold the rule of law. Such weakness is not compassion; it is cowardice.
This country must draw a line. If incitement to murder MPs is not that line, then what is? If Glastonbury does not cancel Kneecap’s appearance, it should lose any right to future taxpayer support. And if ministers cannot say, without equivocation, that such groups should not receive government grants, then we must question their fitness for office.
We are not talking about a controversial lyric or a clumsy metaphor. We are talking about words that, if acted upon, could end lives. The police must act. The government must act. And the public must demand better from both.
Enough is enough.
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Birmingham Pub Bombing
Read also: Families call for justice, as Keir Starmer courts Sinn Féin/IRA with his opposition to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act.
The Birmingham Pub Bombing of 21st November 1974, when bombs exploded in two pubs, killed 21 people and injured 220. Attributed to the Provisional IRA, the atrocity remains “England’s biggest unsolved mass murder of the 20th century.”
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