'The idea we are an anti-Brit band is down to the spin of other people' says Kneecap member

The anti-British reputation of Belfast rap crew Kneecap is mere “spin” created by others, according to one of its members.

The group brought their strongly-republican stage show to Glastonbury – the UK’s biggest music festival – on Saturday, earning plaudits from British gig-goers and reviewers.

As reported by the News Letter, the group’s public image flirts with the iconography of the IRA – for example their DJ is called Provai (“Provie”, like the slang for an IRA member).

He recently donned his customary tricolour balaclava following a hearing he had attended at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast (a past a target for IRA bombers).

That hearing involved the band challenging a UK government decision to withhold a £15,000 grant from them (the band has previously been given well in excess of £1m in public money to promote themselves).

The tweet currently pinned to the top of the band’s Twitter account contains the anonymous republican slogan: “Every word of Irish spoken… is a bullet for Irish freedom” followed by an image of an explosion.

And the group (whose logo is a scowling face in a balaclava) has previously quoted from Bobby Sands, been pictured alongside Gerry Adams in a promo clip, unveiled a mural saying “England get out of Ireland”, tweeted that the IRA campaign was a case of “resisting” the “imperialism” of Britain, named one of their tours “Farewell to the Union”, has chanted “get the Brits out” on stage, and has a song called “Get Your Brits Out”.

Speaking to Sky News after their Glastonbury performance, rapper Mo Chara was quoted as saying: “This is a thing that people love to spin, like we're some anti-British band.

"We have English family. We have loads of good friends who call themselves British.

"It's the British government we don't like."

At the gig, the band put up messages against the current Israeli offensive against Gaza on the stage screen, and encouraged the band to chant “Free Palestine”.

Some Twitter users questioned whether there were similar displays of support for the Israeli festival goers whose massacre at the Nova event on October 7 by Hamas kickstarted the current round of bloodshed in the region.