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Kneecap hit back at Starmer in highly-charged Glastonbury set

By Mark Savage
Music correspondent, at Glastonbury

Kneecap rapper Mo Chara and Móglai Bap drew one of the biggest crowds of this year's festival to the West Holts stage (Getty Images)

Belfast rap group Kneecap filled Glastonbury's West Holts stage for a highly-charged performance that hit back at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with expletive-laden chants.

The Irish-language band have been in the headlines after rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying the flag of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig last year. He has denied the charge.

Last week, Sir Keir said Kneecap's appearance at the festival was "not appropriate".

On stage, the band thanked Glastonbury for keeping them on the bill and told the crowd the "prime minister of your country, not mine, said he didn't want us to play".

Left to right: Kneecap's Mo Chara, DJ Provai, and Moglai Bap (EPA)

Towards the start of their set, the rapper - who was wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh - held his arms out to the crowd and announced, "Glastonbury, I am a free man!"

His bandmate Naoise Ó Cairealláin, who performs under the name Móglaí Bap, called the case "a trumped up terrorism charge," adding that it was "not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system".

He then implored fans to turn up to support Mr Ó hAnnaidh at his next court appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court in August.

Glastonbury organisers had to fence off the West Holts field 45 minutes before the band's appearance, as thousands turned up to show their support - or see what all the fuss was about.

They were treated to a set of raucous, rabble-rousing electro-rap, and responded by setting off smoke flares and moshing in giant rippling circles of bodies.

Palestinian flags intermingled with Glastonbury's more traditional novelty flags during the set (Reuters)

Accusing Israel of genocide, Mr Ó hAnnaidh then led the crowd in a chant of "free, free Palestine". Kneecap also voiced support for Palestine Action, a protest group that the UK government intends to proscribe under anti-terror laws.

The band's set was backed by Glastonbury founder Sir Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily, who runs the festival. She told the BBC: "There have been a lot of really heated topics this year, but we remain a platform for many, many artists from all over the world and, you know, everyone is welcome here."

On stage, Kneecap thanked the festival for their support. "The pressure that that family was under and they stood strong," said Mr Ó hAnnaidh. "Fair play to them."

The group's set was a fast and furious parade of high octane dance-rap (Getty Images)