THIS WEEK IN CULTURE + THE CULTURE BUSINESS
News Briefing: Kneecap v Badenoch
Belfast-based rap trio Kneecap last week won a legal battle with the UK government over a decision by former business secretary Kemi Badenoch to block a Music Export Growth Scheme grant.
The group was awarded a grant by the government-funded music industry-led scheme, but Badenoch’s department blocked it because of the political nature of their creative output. The new Labour government agreed that that action was “unlawful and procedurally unfair”.
In this TW News Briefing, we explain the background to this dispute, in which the previous UK government was accused of attacking freedom of expression and breaching the Good Friday Agreement.
THE MUSIC EXPORT GROWTH SCHEME
The Music Export Growth Scheme – or MEGS – is a music industry funding scheme for independent artists and labels that are looking to pursue commercial opportunities in new markets.
The money comes from government, with the aim of helping artists generate income from streaming, touring and other activity in other countries, in doing so increasing the exports of the UK music industry.
Although funded by government, the scheme is run by the music industry, with a panel of industry experts deciding which artists, labels and projects to fund. Record company trade group BPI oversees that process.
The government’s Department For Business And Trade is very hands-off with the scheme but does need to rubber stamp each grant.
KNEECAP’S GRANT
Earlier this year it emerged that Kneecap’s bid for MEGS funding had been blocked by the department, then headed up by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who has since become leader of the Conservative Party.
Rap trio Kneecap – who perform in Irish and English, and often reference their support for a united Ireland – have frequently courted controversy with their music and other creative output.
When criticised, they have argued that art should be challenging, while also insisting that much of their music is tongue-in-cheek.
Kneecap’s grant was blocked for overtly political reasons, because of the political messaging in some of their creative output. A spokesperson for Badenoch said her department did not want to hand taxpayers’ money “to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself”.
The decision was heavily criticised, for political, legal and simple practical reasons. On a practical basis, people of all political persuasions pay taxes, which ultimately funds the scheme, and therefore people of all political persuasions should be eligible for funding providing they meet the other criteria.
For its part, at the time the BPI said that it was “disappointed” by this decision, adding that, “while it is for government to speak to its rationale for making this particular decision, we firmly believe in the importance of freedom of expression, including artistic expression, and look forward to discussing further with government how any decisions involving potentially controversial matters will be handled in future”.
THE POLITICAL DIMENSION
Various politicians criticised the intervention by the Department For Business And Trade when it was first reported.
In particular Northern Irish MP Colum Eastwood, who told the Belfast Telegraph, “It is highly irregular for a Secretary Of State to intervene to overturn the decision of an independent assessment board to award funding to an artist on the basis of their political aspirations”.
He added that Badenoch blocking Kneecap’s grant could constitute a breach of the British government’s obligations under the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed as part of the Northern Ireland peace process in 1998.
The agreement, he said, includes “a commitment to exercise power on the basis of parity of esteem between communities in the North”.
THE LEGAL DIMENSION
Kneecap launched legal proceedings in relation to the government’s blocking of their MEGS grant almost straight away.
In June, their lawyer Darragh Mackin, said that Badenoch’s intervention to block the group’s grant was an attack on identity, freedom of expression and the fundamentals of the Good Friday Agreement, adding, “the underpinning discrimination is hiding in plain sight”.
The same month, a high court judge gave the group the all clear to take the matter to judicial review, a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a government department or other public body. A full hearing was then scheduled for November.
THE WIDER DEBATE
The blocking of Kneecap’s MEGS grant in February fed into a wider debate about concerns that creators who make political work could find themselves disadvantaged when applying for government-backed arts funding.
Around the same time, Arts Council England was being criticised for an update to its ‘relationship framework policies’ that changed guidance for the organisations it funds around ‘reputation risk’.
That, the updated policy stated, includes the reputation risk of political statements made “not just by the organisation and its decisions but also by staff and other individuals associated with the organisation acting in a personal capacity”.
In a list of the kinds of things that might cause reputation concerns, ACE identified any “activity that might be considered overtly political or activist and goes beyond your company’s core purpose and partnerships with organisations that might be perceived as being in conflict with the purposes of public funding of culture”.
Many in the creative community argued that the new ACE guidance – and especially the reference to individuals speaking out in a personal capacity – was basically a restriction of free speech.
ACE subsequently issued a statement denying the was the case, insisting that its “guidance does not seek to stop any artist or organisation from making the art they want to make, or speaking out in any way they wish – including in ways that challenge institutions and authorities”.
RESOLUTION OF THE KNEECAP CASE
Of course, between Kneecap being granted a judicial review of Badenoch’s blocking of their MEGS grant in June and the scheduled full hearing last week, the UK had a General Election that delivered a new government.
And that new Labour government decided it wasn’t willing to defend a former Conservative minister’s decision making.
Last week a Belfast court was told that that the Department For Business And Trade is no longer contesting this case because it agrees that the original decision about Kneecap’s MEGS grant was “unlawful and procedurally unfair”.
It added: “This government’s priority is to try and reduce costs and help protect the taxpayer from further expense, so we will not continue to contest Kneecap’s challenge as we do not believe it is in the public interest”.
As a result, the government will pay Kneecap the £14,250 in funding that they would have received had Badenoch not blocked their grant as well as covering the group’s legal costs.
Kneecap said their legal action was never about the money, and they will donate the £14,250 to two Belfast organisations, Glór na Móna, which promotes Irish language activities and culture, and R-City Belfast, which offers personal and social development for young people.
In a statement on social media the group wrote, “Today, unsurprisingly the British government’s own courts ruled that they acted illegally in stopping funding to Kneecap. The former Secretary Of State Kemi Badenoch and her department acted unlawfully, this is now a fact”.
They added, “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”.