5<\/p>\n The Belfast-based trio have come under fire after footage emerged appearing to show them calling for the deaths of MPsCredit: Getty 5<\/p>\n Primal Scream are amongst the huge names in music backing the Irish rappersCredit: Getty 5<\/p>\n The Jam frontman Paul Weller has also come out in support of the groupCredit: Getty<\/p>\n Footage of the band at a November 2023 gig appeared to\u00a0show\u00a0one person from the group telling the crowd: \u201cThe only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.\u201d<\/p>\n It comes just days after a clip from another performance in November last year emerged which showed a member of the trio shouting: \u201cUp Hamas, up Hezbollah\u201d.<\/p>\n And First Minister John Swinney has called for the group to be axed from the TRNSMT<\/a> line-up this July.<\/p>\n He added: “It would be unacceptable to me for the band to perform on such a stage.”<\/p>\n The group, composed of Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, claim they are facing a “co-ordinated smear campaign” because of their stance in support of\u00a0Palestine.<\/p>\n The band said they have never supported either Hamas and Hezbollah, condemned all attacks on civilians and \u2018rejected any suggestion they would seek to incite violence\u2019 against any individual.<\/p>\n Several artists and big music names have now signed a joint statement in support of Kneecap.<\/p>\n Primal Scream, former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, The Jam frontman Paul Weller, Massive Attack, Pulp and Fontaines D.C are among many who signed the open letter by the group’s record label, Heavenly Recordings.<\/p>\n The statement said there had been a “clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform” the band.<\/p>\n It accused “senior political figures” in Westminster and the UK media of being “openly engaged in a campaign to remove Kneecap from the public eye”.<\/p>\n ‘They\u2019re going to be a really big band. I really love them’ – Elton John gives shoutout to little-known Irish musicians<\/p>\n It added: “As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom.<\/p>\n “In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, English trip hop group Massive Attack put out their own statement on Instagram which said: “Language matters of course. <\/p>\n “The hideous murders of elected politicians Jo Cox and David Amess means there\u2019s no scope for flippancy or recklessness.”<\/p>\n It added that politicians are “strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band” while “ignoring a genocide happening in real time”.<\/p>\n It comes after Kneecap were dropped from a festival line-up<\/a> in Cornwall at Eden Sessions in July.<\/p>\n Read more on the Scottish Sun<\/p>\n Some have also called for the group’s\u00a0Glastonbury<\/a>\u00a0slot to be axed and their music removed from streaming sites in the Commons.<\/p>\n The Met is now assessing the video along with a separate clip from a November 2024\u00a0gig in which a Kneecap member<\/a>\u00a0appeared to shout: \u201cUp Hamas, up Hezbollah\u201d \u2013 both proscribed terrorist groups in the UK.<\/p>\n![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mo-chara-dj-pr-va-960608495.jpg\")
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