The Pop Corporation

This story is actually about Kneecap Vs Kemi Badenoch, but that’s not as fun as a headline. See, the government when Kemi was Secretary of State, illegally blocked some funding of Kneecap, and a court has ruled this to be the case.

The Irish group and agitprops accused the government of trying to silence them, thanks to a last ditch block to give them BPI funds in February. Kneecap had some provocative artwork, which was anti DUP, and that obviously irritated the Tories, who seemingly went about trying to penalise the group.

The group challenged this decision, arguing that the government’s denial of grant unlawfully discriminated against Kneecap based on their nationality and political opinion – a court agrees!

Kneecap have now received the £14,250 prize, which of course, they’ve given to charity.

Kneecap’s statement says: “Today, unsurprisingly the British government’s own courts ruled that they acted illegally in stopping funding to Kneecap. 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 and our way of expressing ourselves.”

Half of the money will go to Glór Na Móna, who are an organisation that promotes the Irish language in Ballymurphy, with the other half going to RCity Belfast, who provides leadership opportunities to young people on the Shankill Road.

“The former Secretary of State Kemi Badenoch and her Department acted unlawfully, this is now a fact. They don’t like that we oppose British rule, that we don’t believe that England serves anyone in Ireland and the working classes on both sides of the community deserve better; deserve funding, deserve appropriate mental health services, deserve to celebrate music and art and deserve the freedom to express our culture.”

“They broke their own laws in trying to silence Kneecap. The reason for this was they didn’t like our art, in particular our beautiful 2019 tour poster of Boris Johnson on a rocket.”

“They didn’t like our views, in particular our opposition to the ‘United Kingdom’ itself and our belief in a United Ireland which is our right to do. They didn’t like the fact that we are totally opposed to all they represent, embodied right now by their arming of genocide in Gaza,” they wrote.

“What they did was a fascist type action, attempt to block art that does not agree with their views after an independent body made a decision. Their own courts has now found in Kneecap’s favour, as we knew they would. They have tried to silence us and they have failed.”