Tory MS calls for funding to be pulled from Green Man Festival

Stephen Price

A Tory MS has called for Arts Council of Wales funding for the Green Man Festival to be pulled because of the inclusion of Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap in its 2025 lineup.

Gareth Davies MS, Senedd Member for Vale of Clwyd and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism, Sport, and North Wales, has written to the Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Wales seeking urgent clarification on future funding for the Green Man Trust Ltd. I

In his letter, Mr Davies has called for a temporary moratorium on any further funding to the Green Man Trust "unless the organisation clearly distances itself from content that could be interpreted as inciting violence".

Financial records indicate the Arts Council Wales awarded a total of £336,235 to The Green Man Trust Ltd over the past five years, including £91,699 in the 2023–24 financial year.

In his letter, Mr Davies questioned whether any further public funding would be allocated to The Green Man Trust in light of its decision to include Kneecap in its lineup at the forthcoming festival, held on the outskirts of Crickhowell.

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Controversy

Kneecap has previously attracted controversy over statements allegedly promoting violence against Members of Parliament. During a 2023 performance, a group member reportedly said, “the only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Additionally, group member Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh was recently charged with a terror-related offence.

On 29 April, Mr Davies wrote to the festival’s organisers urging them to remove Kneecap from the lin-up. To date, he has not received a response.

He also highlighted what he sees as inconsistency in the festival’s actions, referencing the 2019 removal of Welsh-language singer Meic Stevens from the line-up following anti-Muslim comments, while no similar steps have been taken regarding Kneecap.

 It was revealed yesterday that Kneecap have been axed from TRNSMT festival in Glasgow over police concerns about safety.

Commenting, Gareth Davies MS said: “It beggars belief that a group facing terror-related charges is being given a platform at a publicly backed festival.

 "While I respect the Arts Council Wales’s role in supporting culture, we must draw a firm line when taxpayer money risks endorsing messages of violence and extremism.

 "Public funding should be withheld until the organisers of Green Man demonstrate clear ethical standards and disassociate from performers who promote or glorify violence."

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"Political policing"

Kneecap have said the charging of one of their members with a terror offence in the UK is “political policing” and a “carnival of distraction”.

In a statement on X, the group said: “14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us.

“We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves, this is political policing, this is a carnival of distraction.

“We are not the story, genocide is, as they profit from genocide, they use an ‘anti-terror law’ against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage. A charge not serious enough to even warrant their crown court, instead a court that doesn’t have a jury. What’s the objective?

“To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare speak out."

The band continued: “Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries. Then, like now, they claim justification.

“The IDF units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists, the whole world can see it.

“WE STAND PROUDLY WITH THE PEOPLE. YOU STAND COMPLICIT WITH THE WAR CRIMINALS. WE ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY. YOU ARE NOT. WE WILL FIGHT YOU IN YOUR COURT. WE WILL WIN. FREE PALESTINE.”

Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police said Kneecap were being investigated by counter-terrorism police after videos emerged allegedly showing the band calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.

The rap artists have had gigs cancelled after the footage emerged, but are still listed to headline Friday’s Wide Awake day festival in Brixton’s Brockwell Park, as well as the Green Man near Crickhowell.

The group apologised last month to the families of murdered MPs but said footage of the incident had been “exploited and weaponised”.

They also said they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah, which are banned in the UK.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Kneecap to be banned while other politicians pushed for the group to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up.

In 2024, the band released an eponymous film starring Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender which is a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and follows the Belfast group on their mission to save their mother tongue through music.

Formed in 2017, the group, made up of O hAnnaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, are known for their provocative lyrics and merchandise as well as their championing of the Irish language, and their best-known tracks include Get Your Brits Out, Better Way To Live and 3Cag.

Largest festival in Wales

Now entering its third decade, Green Man is the largest festival in Wales, an award-winning seven-day event that attracts 25,000 daily visitors from across the world to the breathtaking Bannau Brycheiniog.

The Green Man experience spans music, comedy, literature, film, performance and installation art, wellness, science, as well as specific areas for both children and teens, its own Welsh Beer Festival showcasing the best independent Brewers in Wales. It was the first UK festival to sell out for the 2025 season, which it did in minutes without any line-up announced.

Green Man is one of the three remaining large independent festivals in the UK. It generates £28 million into the Welsh economy, and is the only large UK festival where a woman has controlling ownership.