There was something predictable in the government’s agreement last week to accept defeat in the Belfast High Court. The overtly republican Irish band Kneecap had brought a judicial review over the withdrawal of an offer of a £14,500 state grant to support artists overseas, alleging unlawful political discrimination. The government lawyers caved at the door of the court.
It is going a bit far to expect government to directly fund something so contrary to its own interests and values
Put simply, there were many advantages for the government in acting as it did. The sum at stake was chickenfeed, and blame for the whole affair could be conveniently placed on Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary in the previous government who had vetoed the grant in the first place. Moreover, the government’s stance will also have placated those among its own left wing MPs who have discreet Irish nationalist sympathies, and no doubt pleased a fair number of potential youthful supporters too.
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