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Kneecap have responded to Keir Starmer’s resignation as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader.
Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, June 22, outside 10 Downing Street.
In his resignation statement, Starmer said he had “proven those people wrong” during his tenure, highlighting efforts to “rip out the poison of anti‑Semitism” and to “restore trust in the economy, defence and national security”.
Leadership nominations will open on July 9 and be completed by the summer recess on July 16, with a new leader expected by September 1. Andy Burnham is widely seen as the frontrunner for the Labour Party leadership.
Ireland’s hip‑hop trio Kneecap reacted to the resignation on social media, having previously clashed with Starmer over their pro‑Palestinian stance. Starmer had urged that the group be removed from the 2025 Glastonbury festival line‑up.
Despite calls for their removal, Kneecap performed at Glastonbury, using the set to denounce the Prime Minister and lead a chant of “Fuck Keir Starmer”.
Following Starmer’s resignation, Kneecap posted a social‑media video bidding him farewell with the Gaelic farewell “Slàn Keir”.
The video includes footage from their 2025 Glastonbury set, where they led the “fuck Keir Starmer” chant, intercut with Starmer calling them “completely intolerable” in an interview.
In the clip’s closing moments, Kneecap criticised Starmer’s Gaza policy, calling him “[Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bitch” and a “genocide armer”.
The legal saga began after Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) was charged with terrorism for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag and shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a London gig in November 2024. The High Court dismissed the case in September due to procedural technicalities, despite an appeal being rejected and Starmer urging the Crown Prosecution Service to review the decision.
Kneecap responded on social media: “Fuck Keir Starmer, a man who couldn’t get us cancelled from Glasto,” adding, “You know what’s ‘not appropriate’ Keir?! Arming a fucking genocide.”
On their album *Fenian*, the group released the single “Liar’s Tale,” which labels Starmer a “scumbag” for his role in arming Israel.
In an interview with *NME* last year, Starmer reinforced his opposition to Kneecap, stating, “Kneecap shouldn’t be performing at Glastonbury, and I don’t support inciting violence as free speech… They’re two different things.”
Kneecap’s Mo Chara later told *NME*: “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… It’s always, ‘Do you condemn Hamas?’ They’re never asking politicians if they condemn the IDF.”
Móglaí Bap added: “It’s that need for sensationalism… He gets to pretend to be outraged about something that doesn’t really have an impact… We have this dysfunctional symbiotic relationship with politicians.”
