'They are not the story': Massive Attack defend Kneecap in wake of criticism by UK MPs

Kneecap have faced criticism after the footage emerged (Brian Lawless/PA)

British band Massive Attack have defended Kneecap after one of the rap group’s members appeared to call for Tory MPs to be killed.

Video has emerged from a November 2023 gig appearing to show one member of the Irish trio saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

UK conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Kneecap to be banned while other politicians pushed for the group to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up.

A statement on Massive Attack’s Instagram account on Wednesday said: “Language matters of course. The hideous murders of elected politicians Jo Cox and David Amess means there’s no scope for flippancy or recklessness.”

It said politicians are “strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band” while ignoring a “genocide” in Gaza.

The statement added: “Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story.

And the silence, acquiescence and support of those crimes against humanity by the elected British government is the real story.

“Solidarity with all artists with the moral courage to speak out against Israeli war crimes, and the ongoing persecution and slaughter of the Palestinian people.”

Meanwhile, the Irish rap trio’s scheduled performance at the Eden Project, in Cornwall, was cancelled, with a spokesperson for Eden Sessions saying ticket-holders would be contacted directly and refunded.

Three more Kneecap concerts have been cancelled in Germany, BBC News reported.

Ministers also put pressure on the organisers of the Glastonbury Festival over the band’s inclusion in the line-up.

In a statement posted on Instagram, the group, comprising Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and J J Ó Dochartaigh , addressed the families of David Amess and Jo Cox saying “we never intended to cause you hurt” and said they “reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual”.

It added: “Kneecap’s message has always been – and remains – one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs. No smear campaign will change that.”

We're in the space now of moral hysteria and moral outrage, and you have a band being held to a higher moral account than politicians who are ignoring international law

They said they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah.

Labour MP Ms Cox was stabbed and shot in 2016 while Mr Amess was stabbed to death in 2021.

His daughter, Katie Amess, suggested the trio had been “badly advised” because the statement was “deflection and excuses and gaslighting”.

She also said that it would be “very dangerous” for the group to perform at Glastonbury.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time on Tuesday, the band’s manager Daniel Lambert said: “We’re in the space now of moral hysteria and moral outrage, and you have a band being held to a higher moral account than politicians who are ignoring international law.”

He added: “The idea that that was incitement of violence against an MP is ludicrous. It was taken entirely out of context. They are performers as part of performance.

“If you were to look at dozens of comedians globally and you were to take the script of their comedy act and remove six words from a comedy act and then lay it out in a headline and say that this was dangerous, you could do that to dozens of people.

“This was a concerted campaign and the aim of this campaign is really important. It’s not about Kneecap. This has nothing to do with Kneecap or something that Kneecap may or may not have said, it’s solely about de-platforming artists.

“It’s about telling the next young band, both through the music industry and through the political class, that you can’t speak about Palestine.”