This afternoon (28th), just a couple of hours before Kneecap play the music festival鈥檚 third-largest stage at 4pm, the UK鈥檚 national broadcaster finally ended weeks of mystery over what they鈥檙e going to do with the controversial band 鈥 one of whose members is facing a terror charge linked to actions and comments he allegedly made on stage in England seven months ago. The BBC now says the rap trio鈥檚 performance won鈥檛 be streamed live, but the broadcaster will 鈥渓ook to make an on-demand version available鈥. From their statement, it鈥檚 not clear if that means a full and unexpurgated version of the deliberately provocative act鈥檚 show, or if it could be cut to remove foul language and political statements the BBC could hold to cross its standards and requirements of balance. A spokeswoman told the News Letter: 鈥淎s the broadcast partner, the BBC is bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organisers. 鈥淲hilst the BBC doesn鈥檛 ban artists, our plans ensure that our programming meets our editorial guidelines. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 always live stream every act from the main stages and look to make an on-demand version of Kneecap鈥檚 performance available on our digital platforms, alongside more than 90 other sets.鈥 The band鈥檚 appearance at the UK鈥檚 biggest music festival has been slammed by both the Prime Minister and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, with Sir Keir Starmer saying their appearance at Glastonbury is 鈥榥ot appropriate鈥. One of its members, rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh, is current facing a terror charge relating to alleged support of the banned organisation Hezbollah, after video footage emerged of his actions and comments on stage in London last November. The band also apologised to the families of two murdered politicians after video footage from a different show in England emerged showing one member apparently saying: 鈥淭he only good Tory is a dead Tory, kill your local MP.鈥 Kneecap have maintained they do not support Hezbollah and insist the 鈥渒ill your MP鈥 clip has been 鈥渨eaponised鈥 as part of attempts to silence them due to their stance on Israel. The band鈥檚 fans have been vocally unhappy with the BBC鈥檚 silence on showing Kneecap, many holding the position that anything other than showing the band鈥檚 entire performance from beginning to end live and uncut amounts to censorship. That stance echoes a situation last year in which fans concocted a conspiracy theory that Kneecap鈥檚 non-appearance in 2024 Glastonbury coverage meant the broadcaster was silencing them for being republicans. In fact, they were so low down the bill the BBC had no reason to record them 鈥 but this year they鈥檙e in a more high-profile slot. Yesterday, TUV leader Jim Allister told the News Letter the public service broadcaster should be not showing Kneecap in any capacity, stating: 鈥淭his issue is not about censorship, but principle; glorifying paramilitary violence isn鈥檛 edgy, it鈥檚 reckless.鈥 Describing Kneecap as having a history of 鈥渞omanticising or trivialising the darkest parts of our history鈥, he added: 鈥淭here is a clear difference between pushing artistic limits and sanitising 鈥 or, worse, making a joke of 鈥 terror.鈥