Massive Attack has defended Irish band Kneecap after one of the rap group’s members appears to have called for Tory MPs to be killed.
A video 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.”
Massive Attack
Massive Attack’s response 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.”
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.”
They said politicians are “strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band” while ignoring a “genocide” in Gaza.
Manager
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.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “They should apologise. I think you have seen what they have said, I think it is half-hearted.
“We completely reject in the strongest possible terms the comments that they’ve made, particularly in relation to MPs and intimidation as well as obviously the situation in the Middle East.
“It’s right that the police are looking into these videos.”
Kneecap scheduled performance at the Eden Project, in Cornwall, was cancelled. Three more Kneecap concerts have been cancelled in Germany.
Related: Kemi Badenoch a ‘hypocrite’ over Kneecap & Corbyn comments
