Kneecap react to Keir Starmer’s resignation
Kneecap have reacted to Keir Starmer resigning as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party.
Starmer made the announcement this morning (Monday June 22), telling the press outside 10 Downing Street that he would be stepping down.
He said that while he was told “time and time again” that the party was “finished”, he believed he had “proved those people wrong” during his time as PM – particularly, he said, by “ripping out the poison of anti-Semitism” and working to “restore trust in the economy, defence and national security”.
Going forward, nominations for a new party leader will open on July 9, and will be completed “by the summer recess” on July 16. This structure means that if there is a contest, a new leader should be in place by September 1. At time of writing, it is looking likely that Andy Burnham will become Labour Party leader.
Among those taking to social media to react to the resignation is Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap, who have clashed with Starmer multiple times during his time as PM.
The root of their tension comes from Kneecap’s strong support for the people of Palestine – which led to Starmer making a push to have them kicked off the 2025 Glastonbury line-up.
Their set at Worthy Farm went ahead despite calls for them to be removed from the bill, and the band used the set to call out the PM and lead a chant of “Fuck Keir Starmer”.
Now, the band have taken to social media following news of his resignation and bid him farewell with the caption: “Slàn Keir” – a Gaelic word that is commonly used to mean goodbye.
In a clip, they feature footage from Glastonbury 2025 where they led the “fuck Keir Starmer” chant, as well as footage of the soon-to-be former PM hitting out at them in an interview and branded them as “completely intolerable”.
At the end of the social media video, Kneecap took aim at Starmer for his actions regarding the conflict in Gaza, labelling him as “[Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bitch” and a “genocide armer”.
The PM calling Kneecap “completely intolerable” came after the High Court dismissed a terror charge against band member Mo Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), after he was charged with the offence for allegedly displaying the flag of Hezbollah – a proscribed organisation – and shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” during a gig at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town in November 2024.
The band continuously denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, argued that the footage from the gig had been taken out of context, and described the legal action as a “carnival of distraction”.
Ó hAnnaidh also maintained that he didn’t know what the flag was when he picked it up, and the band went on to make three appearances in court, inviting fans and supporters to gather outside. A decision to throw the charges out was reached in September, and decided due to technicalities relating to the way in which the case was brought about.
An appeal to reopen the case was then thrown out, and Starmer said that he wanted the Crown Prosecution Service to “very carefully” examine the decision.
In response, Kneecap wrote: “Fuck Keir Starmer, a man who couldn’t get us cancelled from Glasto”, and also said, “You know what’s ‘not appropriate’ Keir?! Arming a fucking genocide”.
They also hit out at Starmer on their new album ‘Fenian’ – sharing ‘Liar’s Tale’ as a single, which saw them call him a “scumbag” for his involvement in helping to arm Israel.
When speaking to NME last year, Starmer doubled down on his stance against Kneecap, and explained why he spoke out in an attempt to have them booted from the festival line-up.
“Kneecap shouldn’t be performing at Glastonbury, and I don’t support inciting violence as free speech,” he said. “I think it’s important that we distinguish the issues we all care about and should be spoken about freely on the one hand, and then the incitement to violence on the other. They’re two different things.”
Kneecap also spoke to NME about the intense scrutiny they had got from politicians including Starmer during an In Conversation interview, with Chara saying: “Why is it more controversial when a band goes on stage compared to a genocidal regime where the prime minister of that country has an arrest warrant against them?
“We’re not the only people calling it a genocide, the ICJ [International Court of Justice] are. It’s always, ‘Do you condemn Hamas?’ They’re never asking politicians if they condemn the IDF.”
Móglaí Bap continued: “It’s that need for sensationalism. Keir Starmer giving an interview about us playing Glastonbury to The Sun? Why would he do that? That’s weird. He gets to pretend to be outraged about something that doesn’t really have an impact or any repercussions for him, but it makes him look good. We have this dysfunctional symbiotic relationship with politicians.”
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