Kneecap rail against Starmer in 'Corbyn moment' at Glasto

Irish rappers defiant despite criticism and a court charge

- Fergal Kinney

At about 3.30pm yesterday afternoon, Glastonbury attendees received a notification via the festival's official app: the global music West Holts stage was at maximum capacity, no further attendance would be admitted.

It was a set by Kneecap, the Irish hip-hop act whose performance defied the instruction of the prime minister, Keir Starmer, who earlier last week told the Sun that the trio’s appearance would be “inappropriate”.

Kneecap began 2025 with mainstream plaudits, winning a Bafta in February for their rowdy self-titled feature film that fictionalises their West Belfast origins.

But all that changed in April. Performing at Californian music festival Coachella, as is customary during the group's shows, screens flashed the message: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people”, and the words “Fuck Israel. Free Palestine”.

Within a week, Kneecap’s US booking agent had dropped them, with Fox News accusing the trio of bringing “Nazi Germany” sentiments to the US, and TV presenter Sharon Osbourne publicly urging US authorities to revoke their visas.