'Anti-British' rappers Kneecap who face terror probe for urging fans to 'kill your MP' have received nearly £2 million in taxpayer cash
The amount of public money spent on producing and promoting a film about controversial rap band Kneecap who urged fans to 'kill your local MP' has soared to almost £2 million.
The band have been accused of glorifying the IRA, as well as banned organisations Hamas and Hezbollah and are now being investigated by the counter terrorism police for their outspoken statements.
There was a very public controversy last year when it first emerged that cash from the taxpayer and other public sources had gone to the film, also entitled Kneecap.
But now MailOnline has established that since that row over £300,000 more has been paid to the producers of the film which stars the trio playing themselves in a semi-autobiographical story of their lives, packed with anti-British rhetoric.
This handout included a specific £15,000 allowance for one of Kneecap's most high profile stunts when they painted a Land Rover in the livery of the Police Service of Northern Ireland for publicity pictures at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US.
The trio videoed themselves jumping into the van in the Utah town of Provo which shares the nickname of the former Provisional IRA before being driven to the festival around 30 miles away in January last year.
A MailOnline investigation revealed that the cash for the film launch came from the UK Global Screen Fund, financed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and administered by the British Film Institute.
It was reported last year that the film had received £1.6 m in public funding, sparking fury from victims of terror atrocities during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The band, who have been accused of glorifying the IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah, used the cash to have a Land Rover painted in the livery of the Police Service of Northern Ireland for publicity pictures at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US
The Met Police confirmed today counter-terrorism officers had launched an investigation into videos of the Irish rap trio including one calling for the deaths of MPs
But analysis of accounts shows that it has since received further handouts of more than £300,000, bringing the total amount received from the National Lottery and funding which ultimately came from the British government to £1,944,855.
The money was handed over despite the controversial nature of the film and the band being named after the brutal paramilitary punishment of shooting someone in the knee.
The true size of the film's massive public cash funding was revealed as the Metropolitan Police confirmed today that officers from its Counter Terrorism Command were investigating remarks made by Kneecap on stage.
The investigation is into a video of a gig purported to be in London in November 2023 when the UK had a Conservative government, featured a member of the band saying: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.'
It is also probing a second Kneecap concert in London last November which featured a band member draped on staged in a Hezbollah flag while leading chants of 'Up Hamas, up Hezbollah', despite the groups being banned terror organisations in the UK.
The outcry over the comments this week led to the band having several of their concert dates cancelled in Germany, along with a performance at the Eden Project in Cornwall, amid calls for them to be banned from playing at Glastonbury this summer.
It followed concerns about the band stoking sectarian hatred by promoting themselves using pictures of petrol bombs, and unveiling a mural depicting violent attacks on police.
Band member JJ O Dochartaigh – who uses the stage name DJ Provai – is often pictured wearing an Irish tricolour balaclava and sometimes makes shooting gestures at audiences during gigs.
They videoed themselves jumping into the van in the Utah town of Provo which shares the nickname of the former Provisional IRA
Footage was shared online of a gig at north London's Kentish Town Forum last November in which the controversial comments were made
Videos emerged in recent days of a Kneecap gig at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London in November 2024 where one of the band members shouted 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah', and was draped in the Hezbollah flag. There was also a chant of 'ooh ahh Hezbollah'
Kneecap's manager praised terror leaders and compared Israel to the Nazis in a string of unearthed social media posts. Pictured: Naoise o Caireallain, Mo Chara and DJ Provai of Kneecap
The band also came under fire after mockingly posting a clip of a song entitled Get Your Brits Out alongside a BBC news clip announcing the Queen's death.
But the semi-fictional film of the band's life has received fawning coverage from the likes of the Guardian and the BBC, and it won a BAFTA in February for Best Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer on behalf writer/director Richard Peppiatt.
The comedy drama was written and directed by former Daily Star reporter Peppiatt who admitted making up fictional stories about celebrities when he quit the newspaper to launch a failed bid to become a standup comedian.
MailOnline can reveal that the film's newly discovered grants from the BFI include two handouts totalling £114,855 from the UK Global Screen Fund which is directly funded by the Government to help the making of international films from 'the UK's independent screen sector'.
The first grant for £15,000 made to the film's producers Fine Point Films on December 20, 2023, funded the band's stunt with the fake armoured police Land Rover at the acclaimed Sundance Film Festival, founded by Robert Redford, where it beat five other films to win the Audience Award.
The grant stated that it was 'towards eligible costs relating to the world premiere of the Ireland/UK co-produced feature film Kneecap at Sundance 2024'.
It added: 'This will result in an enhanced presence of the film as well as its UK talent and producer during the festival with the aim of creating a buzz around the title and securing strong international sales in key territories.'
Revelations of the payout could have been a potential embarrassment for the Conservative government which later blocked a previously agreed grant to the band for £14,250 through the Government's Music Export Growth Scheme.
Current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch who was Business Secretary at the time stated in February last year that the grant should not be awarded 'to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself.'
The band who have been described as 'inspiring' by Jeremy Corbyn won a discrimination claim against the UK Government in the High Court last November over the refusal of the grant.
MailOnline can reveal that the film's newly discovered grants from the BFI include two handouts totalling £114,855 from the UK Global Screen Fund
Kneecap also won an appeal to gain a £14,250 grant from the government to support UK artists overseas after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch initially rejected their claim
Kneecap shouts 'kill your local MP'
Katie Amess, whose Conservative MP father Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in 2021, said the comments had upset her family
Murdered MP Sir David Amess's daughter Katie Amess criticised the band
Conservative MP for Southend West Sir David Amess was stabbed to death while attending his constituency surgery.
The trio were awarded £14,250 in compensation which they gave to youth clubs in Belfast from the Catholic and Protestant communities.
Following Labour's victory in the General Election last July, the BFI granted the film's producers a second UKGSF award toward the film's distribution.
The grant was said to be expected to lead to 'increased audiences' and 'increased box office and financial returns for UK rights holders and a boost to the profile of the key UK talent involved'.
The film has also received £805,000 in a series of grants from Northern Ireland Screen which is largely funded by the UK Government's Department for the Economy, the Department for Communities and the British Film Institute on behalf of the DCMS.
Documents show the money was handed to Fine Point Films for the making of the film in 2022/2023 under the fund's Screen Fund Production Awards and Irish Language Broadcast Fund Awards.
MailOnline can reveal that the National Lottery which is supposed to distribute money for the 'public good' also provided a total of £1,025,000 for the film in a series of grants made on its behalf by the BFI.
Analysis of BFI accounting spreadsheets shows that the first lottery cash payment of £100,000 was made to the film's producer Fine Point Films Ltd on January 18, 2023, to cover 'pre-production funding'.
Two further grants of lottery cash – one for £575,000 from the BFI Production Fund and the other for £35,000 from the BFI Film Fund – were made just three weeks later on February 8, 2023, to Kneecap Films Ltd.
The BFI paid out another £200,000 in lottery cash to Kneecap Films Ltd on August 9, 2023, as an 'enhancement award', describing it as support for 'an emerging writer/director and a film with a string cultural/progressive impact.'
A statement on the spreadsheet adds: 'The film is centred around an Irish speaking community in Northern Ireland and demonstrates a difference in perspective from more commercial productions'.
Labour MP David Taylor wrote to Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis, urging him to take the rappers off the bill for the festival in June
They are due to perform on the Saturday alongside acts including Charli XCX, Neil Young and Raye
The band apologised to the families of murdered MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox for the 'Kill your local MP' comment.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister believed the comments were 'completely unacceptable' and that there would be no further public funds directed towards Kneecap.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14668489/Anti-British-rappers-Kneecap-terror-probe-2million-taxpayer-cash.html
Kneecap reading a book about Hezbollah
During a second set at Coachella, Kneecap stirred outrage by projecting the slogans: 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people' and 'F*** Israel, Free Palestine'
Counter-terrorism officers are investigating video from a gig that shows a Kneecap band member shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at the Kentish Town Forum in north London
The band is also under fire for support for Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah they voiced at Coachella (pictured)
Kneecap leading an anti-Margaret Thatcher chant
Kneecap leading a chant mocking the death of Margaret Thatcher
A member of Kneecap said: 'We're still under British occupation in Ireland. We still have old men in London making decisions that affect my life in Ireland. And even worse, they're f***ing Tories'
A jeering audience watches as Kneecap shouts 'the only good Tory is a dead Tory'.
Kneecap on stage in Melbourne with the decapitated head of King George V
The King's statue head had not been seen since it was decapitated in Melbourne
The group's 'Farewell to the Union' tou was promoted with an image of then prime minister Boris Johnson and former DUP leader Arlene Foster strapped to a rocket on top of a burning bonfire, as two band members crouched at the bottom holding a petrol bomb
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured with the band) called Kneecap 'inspiring'
