Kneecap win funding dispute with UK government

Concluding a year-long saga, a Belfast court has today (November 29) ruled that the UK government’s decision to rescind a £14,250 grant to Kneecap because of their political views is illegal. 

The funding was initially awarded to the Irish-language rap trio as part of the government-backed Music Export Growth Scheme, which aims to promote UK artists overseas. However, a dispute began in June of this year when then-secretary of state and business – and current Tory party leader – Kemi Badenoch decided to withhold the funding, stating “it’s hardly surprising that we don’t want to hand out UK taxpayers’ money to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself.”

Issuing a statement on Instagram in the wake of the favourable ruling, Kneecap wrote: “For us, this action was never about £14,250. It could have been 50 pence. The motivation was equality. This was an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday Agreement itself, and an attack on Kneecap.”

They added that the reinstated funding which was initially planned to support the group’s North America tour would now be donated to two youth centres “on both sides of the [Belfast] community”, with £7,125 going to ‘GIór Na Móna’ in Ballymurphy, and £7,125 going to ‘RCity Belfast’ on Shankill Road. 

The UK’s Department for Business and Trade, meanwhile, has since agreed that the original decision to rescind funding was “unlawful and procedurally unfair” and announced that it would no longer be contesting the case.

Kneecap have been widely praised for their efforts to revive the Irish language through their music and self-titled, semi-autobiographical film. Speaking to Dazed in response to Badenoch’s controversial decision earlier this year, group member Móglaí Bap said: “It’s some kind of weird, USSR-like politics where you can create art and the government will fund it, but only if it’s in line with [their] politics – which is the polar opposite of what art should be for. Art should be for opposing the mainstream or questioning the status quo.”

The group concluded today’s statement with a message of solidarity with the people of Palestine. They will be performing alongside Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Paloma Faith and Liam Bailey at the O2 Academy Brixton’s Gig for Gaza on the 13 December.

Read our feature-length interview with Kneecap here.