Leo Varadkar says Keir Starmer should not 'try to censor' Kneecap
Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said politicians should not try to censor artists after UK prime minister Keir Starmer said Kneecap's Glastonbury inclusion was "inappropriate".
The Belfast rap trio are scheduled to perform on Saturday at 4pm.
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Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh appeared in court on Wednesday charged, under UK anti-terrorism legislation, with showing support for a proscribed organisation.
The performer, known as Mo Chara, allegedly draped himself in a Hezbollah flag at a London gig last November and shouted 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah', referring to the Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups respectively.
In an interview with The Sun,
Mr Starmer
was asked if he thought the trio should perform at Glastonbury, to which he replied: 'No, I don't, and I think we need to come down really clearly on this.
'This is about the threats that shouldn't be made, I won't say too much because there's a court case on, but I don't think that's appropriate.'
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It comes after Conservative Party leader
Kemi Badenoch
said she thought the BBC 'should not be showing' Kneecap's performance at the festival next week.
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In response, Kneecap posted a screenshot of the interview with the UK prime minister on their Instagram, adding
'arming a fu*king genocide' was what's 'not appropriate'.
In a reply under the post, Mr Varadkar said he initially thought Mr Starmer's comments were "a gag".
'[I] no longer hold office nor have any mandate so my views don't count for so much anymore. I get that. But I really thought this was some sort of gag. It's the role of artists to be avant garde, inappropriate, challenging, disruptive - from James Joyce to Sex Pistols and Playboy.
'Politicians really should not try to censor this. If an offence was committed, let the courts decide. In the meantime, the rule of law says the accused is innocent until proven guilty.'
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