Kneecap apologises to families of Sir David Amess and Jo Cox

Belfast-based rap group Kneecap have apologised to the families of murdered MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox.

The statement posted on X follows the emergence of footage of the group at a concert in November 2023, where one of the band members appears to say: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

The footage is being assessed by counter-terrorism police and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for prosecution.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he did not think “individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding”.

In a statement, Kneecap said they rejected “any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever.”

They added that “an extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action”.

The trio added: “To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt.”

Labour MP Jo Cox was fatally shot and stabbed in June 2016.

On Monday, the daughter of Conservative MP Sir David Amess, who was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery in 2021, said the rap group should apologise.

Katie Amess said she was “gobsmacked at the stupidity of somebody or a group of people being in the public eye and saying such dangerous, violent rhetoric”.

Sir Keir’s spokesperson said the PM believed the comments were “completely unacceptable” and there would be no further public funds directed towards Kneecap.

Kneecap has previously been given arts funding from the government. Last year, they won a discrimination case against the UK government after it withdrew arts funding for the band, and were awarded £14,250.

The Metropolitan Police have said they are also looking at another video, from November last year, where the footage appeared to show a band member shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a performance in London.

In its statement on Monday, Kneecap said: “Let us be unequivocal: We do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.

“We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history.”

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are banned in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme on Tuesday morning, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Carla Lockhart called for Kneecap to be denied entry to the USA and Canada ahead of their North America tour.

It comes after the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) wrote to the US Department of State “to request that Kneecap be denied visas to spread their toxic ideology to America”.

Ms Lockhart said she wrote to the US Department of Homeland Security and Canadian Border Services Agency on Monday “to carefully review any applications for entry and to take all necessary steps to prevent their planned tour from proceeding”.

“The very name of this group sends out the wrong message,” she added.

“And any language that undermines values or incites hate, shouldn’t be used, or shouldn’t be tolerated in our society.

“Those words: ‘Kill your MP’, how can they be taken out of context? You either say that or you don’t.”

Ms Lockhart welcomed Kneecap’s apology to the Amess and Cox families but said it “very much screams sorry because they were caught”.

Kneecap are an Irish-speaking rap trio who have courted controversy with their provocative lyrics and merchandise.

The group was formed in 2017 by three friends who go by the stage names of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí.

Their rise to fame inspired a semi-fictionalised film starring Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender.

The film won a British Academy of Film Award (Bafta) in February 2025.

Last week, TV personality Sharon Osbourne said the group should have their US work visas revoked after they ended their set at Coachella, an annual music festival in California, with pro-Palestinian messages.

On Monday, the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, backed calls for Kneecap to be axed from Glasgow’s TRNSMT music festival this summer.

In a letter to Sir Michael Eavis, a co-creator of the festival, Labour MP David Taylor said it would be “deeply troubling” to see the band performing at Glastonbury Festival this summer.

North Antrim MP and leader of the TUV Jim Allister said he had written to organisers of the Glastonbury Festival asking them to drop Kneecap.

A BBC spokesperson said: “As the broadcast partner, the BBC will be bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organisers.

“The Glastonbury broadcast plans will be considered in the coming weeks, and all output will adhere to our editorial guidelines,” they added.